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“Whenever I saw light, I shouted,” says Chinese man trapped in Nepal tunnel for 11 days

From El Deber · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Official statement Ongoing story
  • Chinese worker Lu Haitao said he had nearly lost hope after spending 11 days trapped in a hydropower tunnel destroyed by floods in Nepal.
  • Haitao said he shouted whenever he saw light but believed rescuers could not hear him; a joint Nepalese and South Korean team eventually freed him.
  • A 64-year-old woman, Chandrika Shrestha, was also found alive in a mud-filled house, while authorities continued searching for thousands missing after the floods.

“Whenever I saw light, I shouted.” Lu Haitao said he screamed with all his strength each time he saw a glimmer in the darkness of the hydropower tunnel, but rescuers passed near him without hearing.

Whenever I saw light, I shouted. I shouted as loudly as I could, with all my strength, but they probably didn’t hear me.

· Lu HaitaoThe Chinese survivor described trying to attract rescuers’ attention while trapped underground.

The Chinese worker was rescued alive on Saturday after spending 11 days trapped in the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower tunnel in Nepal’s Rasuwa district. Speaking from his hospital bed in his first comments, shared by China’s embassy in Nepal on Facebook, Haitao said emergency teams had come close to his position several days earlier. “But they probably didn’t hear me. I was unlucky,” he said.

As the days passed, exhaustion weakened him. When rescuers finally reached him, he said he could barely believe they were standing in front of him. “I wasn’t shouting anymore. I felt there was no hope left. I had resigned myself,” he said. The rescue operation involved Nepal’s army and a South Korean disaster-response team.

But they probably didn’t hear me. I was unlucky.

· Lu HaitaoHaitao recalled emergency teams passing close to his position before his rescue.

Chinese authorities in Nepal called the rescue a “miracle,” saying it strengthened confidence in the difficult effort to assist Chinese citizens in the country. Another survivor was found soon afterward: Chandrika Shrestha, a 64-year-old woman located alive inside a house in the Betrawati market in Nuwakot after emergency teams received information that a voice could be heard inside. Images showed her conscious, sitting on thick mud in a space with barely any room between the sediment and the ceiling. She was evacuated to Kathmandu, though authorities had not explained how she survived without apparent access to food.

When they came to rescue me, even when they were right in front of me, I couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t shouting anymore. I felt there was no hope left. I had resigned myself.

· Lu HaitaoHe described his exhaustion and loss of hope before rescuers reached him.

The discovery followed the rescue of two other workers on Friday after they spent 10 days trapped in a nearby plant. Thousands of military and police personnel remained deployed as authorities searched for about 5,000 people missing after the Aug. 26 floods, many of them believed to be in tunnels and camps linked to hydropower projects.

miracle

· Chinese authorities in NepalOfficials used the word to describe Haitao’s rescue and encourage continued assistance efforts.
About this summary

Originally published by El Deber 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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