Mohan Sinha
07 Sep 2026, 04:49 GMT+10
KATHMANDU, Nepal: Rescue teams in Nepal have found a Chinese national and a woman alive, 10 days after devastating floods and landslides struck the country.
The latest rescues have raised hopes that other people trapped in the disaster zone could still be found.
The Chinese man was rescued from a tunnel at the Trishuli hydropower project, according to Nepalese officials. He became the third worker to be brought out alive from the project.
Two Nepalese workers were rescued from a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydropower plant on Friday. Their rescue had already offered a small sign of hope for teams searching through damaged hydropower sites across the country.
Nepal's army said the Chinese worker was found inside a 225-meter-long tunnel, about 738 feet underground. A joint team involving Nepalese military personnel and South Korean disaster specialists carried out the rescue.
After being brought out, the man was taken by helicopter for medical treatment and assessment. Images showed an army medic checking him during the flight, while another photograph released by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed two rescuers carrying him out of the tunnel.
Officials said around 900 workers remain missing from 12 hydropower projects across Nepal. About 500 of those missing people are believed to be trapped inside tunnels.
Another dramatic rescue took place in the flood-hit town of Nuwakot. A woman was found alive inside a house and pulled to safety by rescue workers.
Nepal's army said the woman was later flown to Kathmandu for medical care. Photographs released by the army showed her covered in mud after being rescued. She was given bottled water and wrapped in a grey blanket before the rescue team took her away.
The rescue of the two Nepalese workers from the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station on Friday was the first successful rescue of workers from one of the affected hydropower projects. Both men were taken to an army hospital in Kathmandu.
The army also reported recovering a body from the site, highlighting the difficult conditions facing search teams.
Videos released by Nepalese authorities showed one of the rescued workers, Kabir Maharjan, being lifted from a hole in the ground as people nearby cheered. He was then placed on a stretcher.
Another worker, Sanjay Sah, was brought out on the back of a fellow worker. His face was still covered in mud. Army doctors placed an oxygen mask on him and checked his vital signs inside a nearby rescue tent.
Sah, a mechanical foreman, later explained that he stayed in a control room to help others escape after learning about the disaster. He had urged his colleagues to leave when they first heard what had happened.
"I was in the control room, so my responsibility was to save everyone's lives. When there was such a big accident, it was not right for me to run away," he said.
Sah also told rescuers that he had spent part of his time trapped inside the tunnel reciting mantras, or verses from a prayer. He said he had remained in contact with three or four other people inside the tunnel and believed some others might still be alive farther inside.
The floods that struck Nepal on August 26 caused widespread destruction. Nepal's disaster management agency said at least 1,300 people had been killed, while more than 5,000 remained missing.
Officials believe a glacier collapse likely triggered the disaster, sending large amounts of water and debris into affected areas.
With hundreds of people still believed to be trapped in tunnels and other damaged locations, rescue teams are continuing their search despite the growing difficulty of finding survivors.
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