At least two people have been rescued alive after being buried in a hydropower tunnel for nine days after deadly flash floods hit Nepal, leaving them trapped in deep mud. The two men were rescued during an ongoing operation at the Trishuli 3A tunnel, a hydropower project in one of the areas worst affected by the catastrophic Himalayan flooding.
Sanjay Shah, a foreman at Upper Trishuli 3A, and Kabir Maharjan, a mechanical supervisor, were rescued from a depth of 170 meters inside the tunnel, according to Nepal Army spokesperson Brigadier General Raja Ram Basnet. Shah, 30, was the first to be rescued and was in a “stable condition. The deep underground sections of the massive 4.5-kilometer-long tunnel structure contained a stable air pocket with breathable oxygen and trapped water, according to experts and those monitoring the rescue operation.
Maharjan, who was rescued second, was in intensive care, the Nepal prime minister’s office said. “They believe they received a faint response from inside saying, ‘hunchha’, yes or OK,” Dix, president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, told AFP, adding that he was en route to Nepal to join the rescue effort. He said rescuers had called into the tunnel: “Don’t worry, we are rescuing you.”
The government had initially said it believed more than 100 workers could be alive inside multiple tunnels.
