Rescuers in Nepal have found a man and a woman alive ten days after devastating floods struck the country, officials reported Saturday. The discoveries bring hope as search efforts continue for an estimated 500 people believed to be trapped inside blocked hydropower project tunnels.
The unprecedented deluge of ice, rock, mud, and debris on the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, attributed to a glacier collapse, has killed at least 1,300 people, with approximately 5,000 still missing.
Officials confirmed on Saturday that a Chinese national was rescued from the tunnels of the Trishuli hydropower project, bringing the total number of people pulled alive from the project to three. Two Nepalese workers were rescued from a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydropower plant on Friday.
The Nepal Army, in conjunction with South Korean disaster experts, rescued the man from a 225-meter tunnel. He was subsequently undergoing a health assessment. Images showed him being evacuated by helicopter with an army medic attending to him.
Separately, in the flood-hit town of Nuwakot, a woman was rescued alive from a house, according to a Nepal army spokesperson. She was being airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment. Images released by the army showed rescuers finding the woman covered in mud, providing her with bottled water before pulling her to safety wrapped in a grey blanket.
The focus of rescue operations remains on reaching the hundreds of workers believed to be trapped inside approximately half a dozen hydropower project tunnels that were blocked by mud and rock debris. Rescue teams have been using earth-moving equipment and employing a pipe to send air through small openings into the blocked tunnels.
On Friday, the two hydropower workers rescued were identified as Sanjay Shah, 30, a mechanical foreman, and Kabir Maharjan, 45, a mechanical supervisor. They were receiving medical treatment, and search and rescue operations were ongoing. Rescuers described their survival as a 'miracle'.
Former head of several hydropower projects, Kulman Ghising, who returned to the scene to help coordinate rescue efforts, expressed concern about the conditions within the tunnels. He noted that it was difficult to determine the survival chances for those trapped due to unknown tunnel conditions. Estimates suggest 300 workers were inside six to eight tunnels, and while survival for several weeks might be possible with adequate oxygen and food, initial observations suggest this may not be the case.
Ghising described reaching one tunnel that was completely filled with water and mud, making it impossible to ascertain if anyone was inside. At another, attempts to make an opening yielded no response when rescuers called out.
Nepal army soldiers were pictured working during a search and rescue operation outside a tunnel near the Hydropower Project sites on Wednesday.
Ghising, who previously served as Nepal’s Energy Minister, stated that the entire area had been devastated, with many villages and hydropower projects destroyed. He emphasized the urgency of finding the missing people, describing it as a desperate race against time.