2 trapped Nepal hydropower tunnel workers rescued 9 days after floods

Kathmandu, Nepal — Rescuers in Nepal pulled two workers alive from a hydropower tunnel Friday as emergency teams continued an operation to reach others believed to be trapped inside, officials said.

The two men were rescued from the Trishuli 3A tunnel nine days after floods, likely caused by a glacier collapse, devastated towns and swept away villages in Nepal on Aug. 26.

Nepalese lawmaker Shri Ram Neupane posted about the second rescue on his Facebook page shortly after army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet confirmed the first trapped worker’s rescue. Officials identified the two men as a mechanical foreman and a mechanical supervisor.

Rescuers first heard voices from inside the tunnel Friday morning, confirming that people were alive and enabling them to locate the two men, Neupane said.

Local television news channels showed images of the first rescued worker covered in mud and being carried from the site on a rescuer’s shoulder. Officials said both men were in stable condition and were flown to a hospital in Kathmandu.

“I can’t explain what we are feeling at the moment. We are just grateful to god,” Amir Maharjan, brother of one of the rescued workers, Kabir Maharjan, told The Associated Press. He said the family was on its way to the hospital to see him.

The worker’s wife, Hirashova, told CBS News partner network BBC News, “We couldn’t properly eat or drink for 10 days. We were very scared. Now we are all happy. We are even crying.”

At least 557 workers are missing from the Trishuli 3A hydropower project along the Trishuli River, with about 115 believed to be trapped in the main tunnel, according to the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal.

Officials present at the rescue site said rescuers believe some people may still be alive inside the tunnel.

Nepal’s Communication Minister Bikram Timilsina said officials remain hopeful that more workers will be rescued.

“We are waiting for the rescue of more and more people,” Timilsina wrote on his Facebook page.

At least 1,259 people were killed in the floods and more than 5,000 remain missing, according to the country’s disaster management agency. China, as of late Wednesday, said 21 people were killed and 541 were missing on the Tibet side of the border.

About 900 workers are missing from 12 hydropower projects in Nepal, with roughly 500 believed to be trapped in tunnels, according to local authorities.