Nepal continues search for survivors in tunnels after deadly landslide

Nepalese rescue teams continued searching tunnels on Saturday after finding two workers alive, nine days after a deadly landslide buried construction sites in the country's north.

The army said search-and-rescue operations were continuing in the tunnels, although it had no new information about possible survivors. Rescue workers from Nepal, assisted by experts from India, China and South Korea, have been digging through underground sections of hydropower plants and dams under construction.

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The search-and-rescue operations continue this morning. Efforts are also being carried out in the tunnels. We have no new information, but the work continues.

Sanjay Sah, 30, and Kabir Maharjan, 45, were rescued unharmed on Friday from a tunnel at the Trishuli-3 dam project. Sah said in a video published by a Nepalese media outlet that at least 40 or 45 people had been there when the flood struck. He said he had told everyone to run but had not had time to escape himself.

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There were at least 40 or 45 of us when the flood came.

Authorities initially estimated that about 100 workers might be trapped in the tunnel. Apart from the two men rescued Friday, teams had found only some bodies in the buried sections.

The landslide followed the collapse of a glacier and rocks, unleashing a huge wave of water, ice and debris across the border area between Nepal and China. The latest official figures put the death toll at at least 1,325, with nearly 5,600 people missing. More than 900 of those missing are employees or workers at Nepal's hydropower sites.

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I could not escape on my own. I told everyone to run. I did not have time to get out.