How two Nepal hydropower workers survived nine days trapped underground

Sanjay Sah spent nine days underground after staying behind to help colleagues escape a flood at Nepal’s Trishuli 3A hydropower project. Kabir Maharjan, trapped at the same facility, had arrived from another project for scheduled maintenance.

Sah, a 30-year-old Nepal Electricity Authority employee from Saptari district, was working in the control room when floodwaters entered the underground area on Aug. 26. He said 40 or 45 people were inside, far more than the usual five or six, and that he helped direct them toward safety.

“While trying to save them, I made everyone run. That cost me time. In the end, I could not get out,” Sah told military officials after rescuers reached him. He said he spent his time underground chanting prayers and told the Army’s medical team, “My responsibility was to save everyone’s life.” He also indicated that other people might have been trapped farther inside the tunnel.

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While trying to save them, I made everyone run. That cost me time. In the end, I could not get out.

Sah last spoke with his family at about 7 a.m. on Aug. 26, shortly before the flood. During the three-minute call, he showed his sister Sudha some of the machinery and said he would continue working. His phone was later switched off, prompting his family to visit police offices and other authorities while seeking information and pressing for a rescue operation.

Maharjan, a Kirtipur resident, had left home on Aug. 25 for the assignment from the Kulekhani hydropower project. He had worked for the Nepal Electricity Authority for more than 15 years, according to his brother Amir. After the disaster, his family tried calling him and reported him missing at the authority’s headquarters. They were told that rescue efforts were underway. Both men emerged alive on Friday, after rescuers reached them following the search.

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My responsibility was to save everyone’s life.