Trapped underground for 10 days, two Nepal workers rescued alive
Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
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Outcome reported
- Rescuers in Nepal freed two workers who had been trapped beneath the Trishuli 3A hydropower plant for 10 days after a flood blocked the tunnel.
- Rescue teams spent nearly six days clearing about 25 meters of mud, rocks and debris before reaching the men.
- The operation involved about 93 soldiers and specialists, along with police and electricity authority technicians.
Sanjay Sah answered that nine days had passed when a soldier asked him the date after rescuers reached him underground. He had spent the time trapped beneath Nepal’s Trishuli 3A hydropower plant, reciting a mantra and shouting to communicate with other workers, until a voice reached the tunnel and told them not to be afraid.
About 50 to 60 meters still separated the rescue team from the workers when contact was established. The men were told to remain still and calm, and someone inside replied, “okay.” Rescuers needed roughly another hour and a half to reach Sah first and then Kabir Maharjan through the passage leading to the underground plant.
Nine days have passed.
A flood had buried the tunnel entrance beneath about 25 meters of mud, rocks and debris that compacted “like rock,” according to Nepal Army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet. Clearing the access route took almost six days. Around 93 soldiers and specialists used excavators, compressors, drilling machines and explosives to break through the blockages.
No one can survive in there, he will not come out.
The work remained difficult inside the tunnel, where water and debris had accumulated and some sections were too narrow for rescuers to stand. Sah emerged conscious and covered in mud, then had to be carried on a rescuer’s back. Maharjan followed, and both men were out by about 9:20 a.m., 10 days after the flood trapped them on Aug. 26.
Neither spoke at first. Both later began to cry, Lieutenant Colonel Ganga Baral, who led the operation, said. The rescue involved the Nepal Army, the Armed Police Force, Nepal Police and technicians from the Nepal Electricity Authority. Before the tunnel closed, Sah had been working in the control room and warned others to escape after learning of an accident at the main dam. He said, “My responsibility was to save everyone’s life. After an accident like that, I could not simply run away alone. I had to save...”
My responsibility was to save everyone’s life. After an accident like that, I could not simply run away alone. I had to save...
About this summary
Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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