3 survivors rescued 10 days after devastating Himalayan flash flood

Rescue workers in Nepal pulled three people alive from the wreckage of hydropower projects and a buried home on Saturday, 10 days after a devastating flash flood and landslide swept through a Himalayan valley, killing more than 1,300 people in Nepal and Tibet.

A woman in her 60s was rescued from a buried house in Betrawati, in Nepal’s Bagmati province near the border with Tibet, police said. She was flown to Kathmandu for medical treatment. Authorities did not immediately provide details about her condition.

Separately, the Nepali army said a Chinese national was rescued from a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Rasuwa district, one of several hydropower facilities badly damaged by the disaster.

Rescuers advanced about 225 meters (246 yards) into the tunnel before reaching the man, identified by authorities only as Luhaitao. He was taken by helicopter to an army hospital for medical evaluation.

Footage released by the Nepali army showed Luhaitao receiving emergency treatment inside the helicopter. He appeared exhausted and disoriented, with dried mud and dust covering his skin and clothing, while a medic checked his vital signs with a stethoscope.

The rescue came a day after workers pulled two other people alive from a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station, also located along the Trishuli River.

Rescue teams believe hundreds of people remain trapped in tunnel systems connected to six hydropower projects in the area. Authorities have estimated that at least 900 people were inside the tunnels when a massive wall of ice, rock and mud surged through the valley on Aug. 26.

The disaster began after a glacier collapse in the upper reaches of the Trishuli River, sending enormous amounts of debris downstream and destroying infrastructure, homes and roads.

Police said Saturday that the confirmed death toll in Nepal had risen to 1,344, including 85 children. Nearly 4,900 people remain missing in the country, including 618 foreigners.

In Tibet, authorities have reported 31 deaths and 531 people missing, bringing the confirmed death toll across the affected areas to more than 1,300.

Search and rescue operations were continuing as crews worked through damaged tunnels and other areas where survivors and victims may still be trapped.