Search teams in Nepal rescued two men on Friday from a hydropower tunnel where they had been trapped for nine days following a flash flood. The workers were recovered from the Trishuli 3A hydropower project construction site in the Rasuwa district after being buried by debris from the flood on Aug. 26.
Nepal’s Minister of Home Affairs, Sudan Gurung, identified the rescued men as Sanjay Shah, 30, a mechanical foreman, and Kabir Maharjan, 45, a mechanical supervisor. A video released by the country’s Ministry of Energy showed rescuers assisting one of the men as he emerged from a small opening in the debris.
The Nepali Army said in a statement that the two men were receiving medical treatment and would be transported to a hospital in Kathmandu. In a report by the AFP news agency, Maharjan’s brother, Amir, stated, “I am so happy, my heart is lighter.”
The rescue operation is part of a larger search effort at the construction site, where officials report at least 557 workers are missing. An estimated 115 of those workers were believed to have been inside the main tunnel when the flood occurred. An army spokesperson reported that one of the survivors told rescuers that other people remained alive inside the tunnel.
“We are waiting for the rescue of more and more people,” Communication Minister Bikram Timilsina wrote on social media, adding that officials were hopeful more survivors would be found.
The flood, which is believed to have been caused by the partial collapse of a glacier, has resulted in a significant number of casualties and missing persons across the region. According to official figures, at least 1,287 people have been confirmed dead in Nepal, with more than 5,000 people reported missing in Nepal and Chinese-controlled Tibet. Chinese authorities have reported 21 deaths and 541 missing on their side of the border.
On Friday, an Australian team of 15 drone specialists arrived in Nepal to assist in search operations at the request of the Nepalese government. Jeremy Fewtrell, the commissioner of Fire and Rescue New South Wales, told reporters that 36 Australian citizens remain missing.
“We are still holding out hope that people might still be surviving in some sort of locations and hopefully this team can help locate any of those people,” Fewtrell said at Sydney Airport before the team’s departure.
