2 trapped workers rescued from hydropower tunnel 9 days after Nepal floods

2 trapped workers rescued from hydropower tunnel 9 days after Nepal floods

One of the survivors told rescuers more people were still alive inside tunnel, says Nepal army spokesman

Rescuers in Nepal pulled two workers alive from a hydropower tunnel Friday, raising hopes of reaching a dozen others believed to be trapped nine days after catastrophic floods devastated towns and swept away villages.

The two men were rescued from a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A construction site. The rescued workers were Sanjay Sah, a mechanical foreman, and Kabir Maharjan, a mechanical supervisor, Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha’s office said in a statement.

When the mountain gave way above the Nepali power plant ‌where Sah worked, he said he chose to stay and help instead of fleeing.

"I was in the control room in the tunnel. Normally there are four to six ​people there, but there could have been 40 to 45 people that ⁠day," the 30-year-old told ⁠army officials from a stretcher, an oxygen mask ‌strapped to his face, in a video shared by the Nepalese authorities.

"My responsibility was to save everyone's lives. When there was such a big accident, it was not right for me to run away."

Sah said he had warned the others the ⁠moment word came of the disaster upstream, urging them to flee. He never made it out himself. By the time he turned to run, there was no time left.

Nepalese lawmaker Shri Ram Neupane posted about the second rescue on his Facebook page shortly after army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet confirmed the first trapped worker's rescue.

Basnet said one of the survivors told rescuers that more people were still alive inside the tunnel.

Rescuers first heard voices from inside the tunnel Friday morning, confirming that people were alive and allowing them to locate the two men, Neupane said.

Hopes of finding survivors dim a week after catastrophic Nepal flood

Local television news channels showed images of the first rescued worker covered in mud and being carried from the site on a rescuer's shoulder. One of the survivors was in a critical condition, according to a statement from the Nepal prime minister's office. Both men were flown to a hospital in Kathmandu.

"I can't explain what we are feeling at the moment. We are just grateful to god," Amir Maharjan, brother to one of the rescued workers, told The Associated Press. He said the family was on its way to the hospital to see him.

Hundreds of other workers still missing

At least 557 workers are missing from the Trishuli 3A hydropower project along the Trishuli River, with about 115 believed to be trapped in the tunnel, according to the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal.

Nepal's Communication Minister Bikram Timilsina said officials remain hopeful that more workers will be rescued.

Hundreds feared stuck in hydropower tunnels as flood deaths surpass 950 in Nepal, China

"We are waiting for the rescue of more and more people," Timilsina wrote on his Facebook page.

At least 1,259 people were killed in the Aug. 26 floods, likely caused by a glacier collapse, and more than 5,000 remain missing, according to the country's disaster management agency. China said late Wednesday that 21 people were killed and 541 were missing on the Tibet side of the border.

About 900 workers are missing from 12 hydropower projects in Nepal, with roughly 500 believed to be trapped in tunnels, according to local authorities.