Two individuals were pulled alive from a tunnel connected to a hydropower station on Nepal’s Trishuli River on Friday, nine days after a massive ice, rock, and mudslide devastated the valley. The disaster resulted in more than 1,200 fatalities and displaced tens of thousands of people.
Officials and rescue teams believe the glacier collapse on August 26 in the upper Trishuli River region trapped at least 900 people inside tunnels associated with six hydropower projects along the river. The catastrophe swept away homes, roads, and schools in towns and villages near Nepal’s border with China’s Tibet.
The confirmed death toll in Nepal has reached 1,252, with over 4,200 individuals still unaccounted for and many more displaced. Meanwhile, Chinese authorities report 21 deaths and 541 missing persons in Tibet as a result of the same event.
The two survivors, rescued from the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station tunnel, are the first to be found alive within the hydropower projects. They were transported to an army hospital in Kathmandu for treatment. A small group had escaped from a different tunnel shortly after the disaster struck.
The rescued men have been identified as Sanjay Sah, a mechanical foreman, and Kabir Maharjan, a mechanical supervisor, confirmed by the office of Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha. Videos released by Nepali officials showed Maharjan being extracted from a hole amid cheers and placed on a stretcher, while Sah was carried out on a colleague’s back with his face covered in mud.
Medical personnel attended to Sah at a rescue tent near the tunnel before he was moved to the hospital, providing him with oxygen and monitoring his vital signs. An army official reported that Sah’s condition appeared stable and that he was working in the mechanical control room when trapped. Sah shared that he recited mantras during his entrapment and mentioned that three or four more people might still be alive in the tunnel, possibly more in its deeper sections.
Maharjan is unable to move his limbs, whereas Sah’s injuries are not critical, an aide to the energy minister stated. Kabir Maharjan’s brother, Amir, expressed relief and happiness upon hearing the news, though he awaited official confirmation and was directed to the hospital.
Both survivors remain in the intensive care unit, with stable vital signs hospital sources. Rescue operations continue around the Upper Trishuli 3A site, coordinated by the Nepali Army with support from police and experts from India, South Korea, and China.
A WhatsApp group of experts has been instrumental in guiding rescue teams alongside helicopters and heavy machinery during the search for survivors. Dhan Bahadur Tamang, who escaped from a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli 1 hydropower project, described the recent rescue as a miracle that renews hope for finding more survivors.
In a significant development regarding the disaster’s impact, Dharma Raj Upreti, head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, estimated property, housing, and infrastructure losses at 387.5 billion Nepalese rupees, equivalent to approximately $2.56 billion. Nepal faces the challenge of rebuilding around 20,000 homes in the flood-affected areas, with at least 7,500 houses destroyed.
Additionally, 583 foreign nationals remain missing, many of whom are pilgrims and trekkers. Australian disaster response teams departed for Nepal on Friday to assist in the search efforts, while their government expressed serious concerns over the welfare of its 36 missing citizens.
