LIVE: 'A second life': Nine days later, 2 rescued from Nepal hydropower tunnel

Two men were rescued alive from a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydropower project on Friday (September 4) nine days after a flash flood tore through the Trishuli River corridor in central Nepal.

They were identified as Kabir Maharjan, 45, a mechanical supervisor on the project, and Sanjay Sah, 30, a foreman, according to the Public Relations Directorate of the Nepal Army. Other reports say around 40 people are said to be trapped.

Maharjan was flown to Nepal Army Hospital in Chhauni, Kathmandu, and his condition is said to be critical while Sah is under treatment at the Trishuli hospital in Nuwakot, according to Raja Ram Basnet, Nepali Army spokesperson.

Sah, who is from Saptari district in Madhesh province, told security personnel that he was chanting 'Hare Krishna’ mantra for the last nine days while trapped inside the tunnel.

“I was chanting Hare Krishna mahamantra for the past nine days,” he said, briefly talking about the incident soon after he was taken out safely.

He said he stayed behind while others fled after the disaster because he felt responsible for everyone’s safety.

Sad said he was working in the control room when the accident occurred. “I was working in the control room. My responsibility was to save everyone’s life.” He said he urged everyone to run after the accident, but by the time others had left, it was too late for him to escape.

'I communicated with thee-four people'

Asked how many people might still be trapped inside, he said he had heard or communicated with three or four people in his vicinity. “There were only three or four people with whom we were able to communicate, nearby, by talking or making noises.”

Sah also said there could be more people trapped deeper inside the tunnel, including around the powerhouse. “Not everyone may have been able to escape. The tunnel is very long,” he said, adding that the force of the floodwater could have carried people deeper inside.

Maharjan’s wife said her husband, who is from Kathmandu, had been given a “second life” and thanked rescuers who risked their lives to save him.

“He has returned with a second life. We are extremely happy,” his wife, Hira Shobha, was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post. “We had been waiting. I am now going to the hospital to see my husband.” She said the days had been an extremely painful and difficult time for her and her family. “It was so difficult to get through those days. It wasn’t one day or two days. We could neither eat nor sleep.” “We believed he was still in there. We believed he would come back. We suffered because it took a little longer,” she said.

She thanked everyone involved in the rescue operation.

workers have been pulled alive from a tunnel at Nepal’s Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project, nine days after floodwaters swept through the Trishuli corridor. At least 39 people are said to be trapped, with rescue operations underway.

Sanjay Sah, a mechanical foreman, was brought out first on Friday (September 4). Mechanical supervisor Kabir Maharjan followed. Shri Ram Neupane, a Rastriya Swatantra Party lawmaker and engineer taking part in the rescue, identified the two men.

Rescuers made contact with people underground. Voices were heard through the tunnel, prompting the Nepali Army and Armed Police Force to step up efforts to reach the trapped men.

“The rescue team called out, ‘Don’t panic, we are here to rescue you,’ and received a response from inside saying, ‘Okay,’” Neupane said.

Rescue crews now believe additional workers may remain inside. Neupane said the team had confirmed that more than one person was underground and continued searching after the two men were brought out.

Around 600 children remain unaccounted for in Nepal’s Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts after the devastating flash floods, as the death toll rose to 1,282 on Friday with more than 4,700 missing.

The flash floods, triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal, leaving a trail of destruction.

So far, Nepal Police has recovered 359 bodies in Chitwan, 218 in Nawalparasi East, 208 in Nawalparasi West, 185 in Nuwakot, 72 in Gorkha, 60 in Dhading, 140 in Rasuwa, and 38 in Tanahu.

(With inputs from Prabhat Khanal)