Survival Inside the Trishuli 3A Tunnel
Emergency teams in Nepal pulled two men from a flooded hydropower tunnel on Friday, nine days after a catastrophic flood disaster hit the Himalayan region. The rescued men, 30-year-old mechanical foreman Sanjay Sah and 45-year-old mechanical supervisor Kabir Maharjan, were discovered within the Trishuli 3A hydropower plant located in the border district of Rasuwa. While this rescue provides a sharp focus for ongoing efforts, the army reported the recovery of one additional body from the same site.
Sanjay Sah described his time underground in a video shared by local authorities. He remained trapped in the pitch-black darkness, chanting mantras to sustain his hope while listening to other voices calling out from the debris. Sah indicated that between 40 and 50 workers were inside the tunnel when the surge hit. He claimed his priority was the evacuation of his peers, an act that prevented his own timely escape from the flooding.
Scope of the Humanitarian Crisis
The Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal estimates that approximately 557 workers remain missing across the site. Of those, officials believe 115 individuals might still be alive within the main tunnel. Communication Minister Bikram Timilsina confirmed that the search remains the primary priority. Rescuers reported hearing multiple voices from deep inside the tunnel structure Friday morning, fueling the urgency of the operation.
Across the nation, the scale of the tragedy is immense. Official data shows more than 900 workers are missing from a dozen different hydropower projects. Roughly 500 of those individuals are potentially trapped behind collapsed tunnel sections or within mud-filled chambers. These remote, mountainous locations present severe logistical hurdles for rescue crews who must navigate destroyed roads and unstable terrain to reach the disaster sites.
Challenges and International Impact
The rescue operation involves 75 army personnel, 18 police officers, and various technical experts. The teams operate around the clock, using controlled blasts and heavy earth-moving equipment to clear debris and reach trapped individuals. Air quality and access to clean water remain significant concerns for the survivors buried inside. Bad weather frequently hampers these efforts, forcing pauses in the excavation.
This disaster originated from a high-altitude glacier collapse on August 26 along the border between Nepal and Tibet. The event triggered widespread flooding that has killed at least 1,287 people in Nepal, with more than 5,000 still missing. The destruction of infrastructure carries a price tag estimated at 387.5 billion Nepalese rupees, roughly 2.5 billion dollars.
Regional authorities continue to coordinate with international teams to locate survivors. China reported 31 fatalities and 531 missing on the Tibetan side of the border following mudslides in Gyirong county. The State Department confirmed that 75 American citizens remain unaccounted for in the region. As the search continues, authorities face the difficult task of managing the intersection of local recovery efforts and the high number of foreign nationals caught in the flood zone.