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A miracle from the tunnel gives Nepal hope after 10 days

From OnlineKhabar English · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Outcome reported
  • Rescuers found Sanjay Sah and project supervisor Kabir Maharjan alive inside the Upper Trishuli-3A hydropower tunnel after 10 days without contact.
  • Nepal Army, police and technical teams cleared a dangerous passage through mud and rock after confirming that survivors were beyond the blockage.
  • Lieutenant Colonel Ganga Baral credited sustained coordination among the rescue teams for the breakthrough.

After 10 days of silence inside the Upper Trishuli-3A hydropower project tunnel, a simple exchange gave Nepal’s rescue teams the news they had been waiting for.

Hello.

· RescuerThe call that prompted a response from inside the blocked tunnel.

A rescuer called out, “Hello.” From somewhere beyond the mud and broken rock came the reply, “Hajur,” an ordinary Nepali response to a greeting. The team had reached about 200 metres into the tunnel when it heard the voice. Nepal Army personnel, Armed Police and Nepal Police officers, along with technical experts from the Nepal Electricity Authority, stopped in the darkness and realised that people could still be alive inside.

The rescue operation had become both more urgent and more dangerous. The teams considered drilling through the debris, as they had done elsewhere while searching for the trapped workers. If that failed, they planned to use controlled explosives to widen a passage. But the people they were trying to reach might be directly behind the rock, so the Army’s Special Forces, Combat Engineers and Collapsed Structure Search and Rescue team spent hours assessing the risks.

Hajur.

· Unidentified survivorThe reply that confirmed to rescuers that someone remained alive inside.

Once they determined that the operation could proceed safely, rescuers called out again and heard the response. They pushed oxygen cylinders and additional lights into the tunnel, then moved through thick mud with a rope to prevent themselves from becoming trapped. They found Sanjay Sah alive and immediately informed the teams outside. A second faint voice then came from deeper inside. It belonged to Kabir Maharjan, a project supervisor, who was also found alive and brought out.

It took time, but ultimately we succeeded in rescuing two people alive.

· Lieutenant Colonel Ganga BaralHe described the rescue breakthrough after 10 days of searching.

For the rescue teams, the two men offered more than a successful operation. Their survival showed that the search could still find others alive. Lieutenant Colonel Ganga Baral said the result came from sustained coordination between the different teams. “It took time, but ultimately we succeeded in rescuing two people alive,” he told Onlinekhabar. “We have shown that Nepalis can deliver a remarkable result even in a disaster rescue operation considered almost impossible.”

We have shown that Nepalis can deliver a remarkable result even in a disaster rescue operation considered almost impossible.

· Lieutenant Colonel Ganga BaralHe praised the rescue teams’ performance.
About this summary

Originally published by OnlineKhabar English. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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