Two people have been pulled out alive from a hydropower tunnel in Nepal nine days after deadly flash floods buried the projects in deep mud and left them trapped. The workers were rescued during an ongoing operation at the Trishuli 3A tunnel, a hydropower project in one of the areas worst affected by last week’s floods, according to the army spokesperson Brig Gen Raja Ram Basnet. Sanjay Shah, a foreman, was the first to be rescued and was taken to the army barracks in Trishuli.
Another person, identified as Kabir Maharjan, a project supervisor, was also pulled from the tunnel. They were recovered from a depth of 170 metres (558ft) inside the tunnel, Basnet said. A senior police official confirmed that a dead body had also been recovered from the tunnel.
By Friday afternoon, police confirmed they had halted the operation as they had found no more signs of life. Nepal’s army released images of Shah being pulled from the small dark entrance of a tunnel. He emerged covered in mud but conscious and was carried from the site on a rescuer’s shoulder.
Speaking to army officials after he was rescued, Shah’s first question was: “What day is it?” Describing his ordeal, Shah said he had been in the tunnel’s control room at the time of the flood, alongside about 40 to 45 others. I had to save everyone.” Shah said that after realising there had been a major accident, he raced through the tunnel telling people to run and save themselves. In the end, I couldn’t get out myself,” he said.
To keep himself calm in the darkness of the tunnel, Shah said he spent his time chanting mantras. He said that while trapped, he had heard the voices of three or four others. There could also be people inside the powerhouse.
Some of them may not have been able to escape,” he said. Officials said the two men were flown to a hospital in Kathmandu. Shah was said to be stable but Maharjan was in a critical condition and had been transferred to intensive care.
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