Rescuers in Nepal pulled a Chinese national alive from a hydropower tunnel on Saturday, 10 days after devastating floods and mudslides struck the region. The man was rescued from a 738-foot tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project.
A joint rescue team of Nepalese military personnel and South Korean disaster experts carried out the operation. The rescued worker is currently undergoing a health assessment. Images from the rescue showed him being evacuated by helicopter, with an army medic attending to him during the flight.
This rescue brings the total number of workers pulled alive from tunnels at the Trishuli hydropower project to three. Two Nepalese workers were rescued from a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydropower plant on Friday.
The floods, which occurred on Aug. 26 and are believed to have been caused by a glacier collapse, killed at least 1,300 people, according to Nepal’s disaster management agency. More than 5,000 people remain missing. Authorities reported that approximately 900 workers are missing from 12 hydropower projects across Nepal, with an estimated 500 believed to be trapped in various tunnels.