A Chinese national, Lu Haitao, was rescued alive from a tunnel in Nepal on Saturday, 10 days after a massive wall of ice, rock, and mud devastated a Himalayan valley, resulting in over 1,300 fatalities. The Nepali army confirmed that Lu was found inside a 225-meter tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project.
He is the third person to be rescued alive from tunnels where authorities believe approximately 900 individuals remain trapped following the August 26 glacier collapse on the upper reaches of the river. The previous day, rescue teams had pulled two survivors from another tunnel at the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station, located on the same river.
Officials reported that Lu showed no visible injuries and his vital signs were stable, though he exhibited mild hypothermia symptoms. Video footage released by the Nepali army depicted him receiving emergency medical care inside a helicopter en route to an army hospital. He appeared weak and disoriented, with dried mud and dust covering his skin and clothes, while a medic in uniform checked his condition with a stethoscope.
The floods have claimed the lives of at least 1,344 people in Nepal, sweeping away homes, roads, and schools in towns and villages near the border with Tibet. Around 4,887 people remain missing, including 583 foreigners, many of whom were pilgrims and trekkers. As of September 4, China reported 31 deaths and 531 missing persons in Tibet due to the disaster.
In a related rescue, a woman named Chandika Kumari Shrestha was saved from her home in Betrawati on Saturday. Images shared by authorities showed her covered in mud inside a flooded underground area, where rescuers provided water while working in the confined, sludge-filled space.
Meanwhile, families of missing persons continue to hold onto hope. At the Maithili Barrack in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, relatives have posted images of loved ones believed trapped in the tunnels. Among them is Ishwor Poudel, a tunnel worker at the Hakubesi Hydroelectric Project for three years and brother of 34-year-old Krishna Poudel.
Krishna last spoke to Ishwor on August 26, shortly after floodwaters struck the valley. “I spoke to him at 7:30 a.m. before he entered the tunnel for work. Around 11:30 a.m., after the floods arrived, I finally got through and he told me: ‘I’m trapped inside the tunnel,'” Krishna recounted. Since then, the family has had no contact but remains hopeful, encouraged by survivors who escaped the same tunnel and reported hearing voices of 200-300 people trapped inside, including Ishwor, who was reportedly driving a vehicle within the tunnel.
