Nepali Rescuers Draw Hope From Miraculous Survivor Finds

Four extraordinary rescues have given Nepali search teams fresh hope as operations entered their 12th day after catastrophic floods and a mountain collapse on the China-Nepal border. The disaster has killed at least 1,372 people and left more than 5,500 missing across the two countries.

Two survivors were found on Saturday, after two others were rescued the previous day. Three of the survivors were discovered inside hydropower tunnels, where the government had initially believed more than 100 workers might still be alive. On Saturday, rescuers pulled a Chinese man from deep inside one tunnel and found 64-year-old Nepali woman Chandrika Shrestha alive in her mud-covered home.

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Search and rescue is going on at the tunnels despite geography, adverse weather and lack of connectivity

“Search and rescue is going on at the tunnels despite geography, adverse weather and lack of connectivity,” Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha told AFP. He said rescue workers faced “multiple challenges.” Around 20 Chinese rescuers in bright orange used excavators, shovels and ground-penetrating radar as they searched for hundreds of people missing since a tsunami-like mudslide destroyed China’s main border crossing with Nepal.

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multiple challenges

The floods in Tibet also became deadlier, with Chinese state media reporting that the death toll had risen from 31 to 43. The wall of icy water and debris tore through Nepal’s mountain districts on Aug. 26, destroying roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Nepal planned a national day of mourning on the 13th day after the disaster, following a traditional period of mourning in Hindu rituals.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah said the rescue of Shrestha had “given hope to the entire nation.”

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given hope to the entire nation