Nepal: Two People Pulled Alive from Tunnel Nine Days After Deadly Floods

Two people have been rescued alive from a tunnel at Nepal’s Trishuli 3A hydroelectric plant, nine days after deadly floods struck the country and killed 1,200 people.

The rescue operation continued without pause as teams worked to determine whether others remained trapped. Forty-two workers were reported missing, and police said rescuers heard voices inside the tunnels. A medical team was sent toward the area.

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It appears that we now have proof that this particular methodology can be used for a rescue operation, because this is something that is being done for the first time in the world.

Suresh Raut, a senior official with the Nepal Electricity Authority, said rescuers were providing oxygen to one survivor, whom authorities identified as Sanjaya Shah. The tunnel leading to the underground powerhouse is more than four kilometers long, and the workers were inside when the catastrophic flooding occurred.

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We have never done anything like this before and now we have an initial confirmation that it can work.

The operation has unfolded in exceptionally difficult and dangerous conditions. Arnold Dix, a disaster-management specialist and tunnel-engineering professor advising the rescuers, said teams were trying to locate tunnel entrances buried by the floods. He described the work as unprecedented and said rescuers might need to blast through rocks the size of cars to reach those trapped inside.

The survival of the two workers offered rescuers their first confirmation that the method could work. Dix said other hydroelectric stations along the Trishuli River, including sites where workers from China, South Korea and India were employed, had not yet been reached.

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Of course, we stop for a moment and celebrate. But now this also means that we have to take a step back and move forward.