Three Survivors Rescued 10 Days After Devastating Himalayan Flash Flood

Ten days after a wall of ice, rock and mud tore through Nepal’s Trishuli River valley, rescuers pulled three people alive from the wreckage of a buried home and hydropower projects.

A woman in her 60s was found inside a buried house in Betrawati, in Bagmati province near the Tibetan border. Police said she was flown to Kathmandu for treatment, but authorities did not immediately disclose her condition.

The Nepali army separately rescued a Chinese national from a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Rasuwa district. Rescuers moved about 225 meters into the tunnel before reaching the man, identified by authorities as Luhaitao. A helicopter carried him to an army hospital for medical evaluation. Footage released by the army showed him receiving emergency treatment. He appeared exhausted and disoriented, with dried mud and dust on his skin and clothing.

The rescue followed the discovery of two other survivors a day earlier in a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station. Rescue teams believe hundreds of people may remain trapped in tunnel systems linked to six hydropower projects. Authorities estimate that at least 900 people were inside the tunnels when the debris surged through the valley on Aug. 26 after a glacier collapsed upstream.

Police said Nepal’s confirmed death toll had reached 1,344, including 85 children, while nearly 4,900 people remained missing, among them 618 foreigners. Authorities in Tibet reported 31 deaths and 531 missing people. Search teams continued working through damaged tunnels and other areas where survivors and victims may still be trapped.