Rescuers in Nepal have pulled two workers alive from a hydropower project tunnel, nine days into an operation to find survivors trapped by the catastrophic flash floods that tore through villages near the Tibet border.
The workers were saved from a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli 3A hydropower project on Friday morning, after rescuers heard faint human voices coming from inside the tunnel.
More than 1,280 people were killed when the flash floods, likely caused by a glacier collapse, devastated entire towns and valleys along the Nepal-China border last Wednesday morning.
The rescued workers were Sanjay Sah, a mechanical foreman, and Kabir Maharjan, a mechanical supervisor, energy minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha’s office said in a statement.
Maharjan cannot move his hands and legs but Sah’s injuries are not critical, officials said. Sah, who was rescued first, was not in a condition to speak, while Maharjan “smiled and was thankful” following his rescue, officials told the BBC.
Both men were in stable condition and were flown to a hospital in Kathmandu.
Maharjan’s brother said he had not received any news officially but had been told to go to the hospital. “I have been hearing from the news that my brother has been found. The entire family is very happy,” Amir Maharjan said.
Local television news channels showed images of the first rescued worker covered in mud and being carried from the site on a rescuer’s shoulder.
open image in galleryAt least 557 workers are missing from the Trishuli 3A hydropower project along the Trishuli River, with about 115 believed to be trapped in the main tunnel, according to the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal.
A tunnelling expert told the AFP that prior to rescuing the two workers, the teams had dug through debris blocking the tunnel for 50 to 60m.
Arnold Dix, president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, said the rescuers had been hopeful of a breakthrough before they managed to pull the survivors out.
“Right now, I’m ‘glass three-quarters full’,” he said. “After a week of 24/7 heartache, we might, just, be back in miracle country.”
Nepal’s communication minister Bikram Timilsina said officials remain hopeful that more workers will be rescued. “We are waiting for the rescue of more and more people,” Timilsina wrote on his Facebook page.
open image in galleryThe 26 August floods killed at least 1,259 people and left more than 5,000 missing, according to Nepal’s national disaster management agency.
On the Tibetan side of the border, at least 21 people were killed and 541 were missing, according to Chinese officials.
Rescue efforts are increasingly centred on hydroelectric project tunnels along the Trishuli river where authorities believe that many workers remain alive after being cut off by floodwaters and debris.
Nearly 900 workers are still missing from 12 hydropower projects in the country, with 500 believed to be trapped in tunnels, according to local authorities.
At the Upper Trishuli 3A facility, it took rescue workers almost six days to find the tunnels because of thick mud.
Rescuers said there was a dry chamber inside and expected oxygen to be flowing through the tunnel. They were also using pipes to push oxygen inside.