Two workers have been rescued alive from a tunnel at a hydropower project in Nepal, nine days after a massive ice, rock and mudslide swept through the Trishuli River valley.
The workers were rescued on Friday from the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station, where they had been trapped since the disaster struck on August 26.
Officials and rescue teams believe at least 900 people were trapped in tunnels connected to six hydropower projects along the Trishuli River.
The rescued workers were identified as Sanjay Sah, a mechanical foreman, and Kabir Maharjan, a mechanical supervisor, according to the office of Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha.
Footage released by Nepali authorities showed rescuers pulling Maharjan from a hole in the ground as onlookers cheered before placing him on a stretcher.
Sah was carried out of the tunnel on the back of another worker and taken to a rescue tent, where army doctors examined him and provided medical attention.
An army official said Sah’s vital signs appeared normal, while an aide to the energy minister said Maharjan was unable to move his hands and legs. Sah’s injuries were not considered critical.
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Both workers were expected to be taken to a hospital in Kathmandu for further treatment.
Amir Maharjan, Kabir’s brother, said the family was overjoyed after hearing reports that he had been found alive.
The rescue comes as Nepal continues its search for thousands of people missing after the disaster, which devastated communities near the border with China’s Tibet region.
At least 1,252 people have been killed in Nepal, while more than 4,200 remain missing and tens of thousands have been displaced. China has reported 21 deaths in Tibet, with another 541 people missing.
Engineers and other experts have also been using a WhatsApp group to guide rescue teams searching the hydropower tunnels, working alongside helicopters and heavy machinery in efforts to locate survivors.
