Two Trapped Hydropower Workers Rescued Nine Days After Nepal Floods

It was almost a week and a half after the dead‑quiet morning of August 26, when floodwaters and landslides turned the hills of central Nepal into a scene of devastation. The Trishuli‑3A hydropower complex, perched in the Rasuwa district, had its main tunnel choked with mud, debris and – tragically – the bodies of many who never made it out.

Then, on Friday, a muffled shout echoed through the darkness of that four‑kilometre tunnel. Rescue crews, armed with heavy excavators and portable oxygen rigs, finally reached a man crouched on a slab of rock, his clothes drenched in silt. He was pulled onto a rescuer’s shoulder, still breathing but visibly shaken. Minutes later, a second voice was heard, and another worker emerged, his face smeared with mud but his eyes alert.

The two men were later identified by the BBC as Sanjaya Shah and Kabir Maharjan, seasoned technicians who had been part of the project for years. According to senior Nepal Electricity Authority official Suresh Raut, oxygen was administered to one of them right after the evacuation, a precaution that likely saved his life.

Nepal’s Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha confirmed the first rescue, while Home Minister Sudan Gurung announced the second in a brief statement: “We have just received news that another person has also been rescued.” The Nepali Army, represented by Brigadier General Raja Ram Basnet, had earlier confirmed the first extraction.

Local television footage showed the rescued workers being carried out, mud dripping from their helmets, as on‑lookers—some in tears, others in stunned silence—watched. The images sparked a wave of hope across a nation that still lists roughly 900 workers missing from 12 hydropower sites, with about 500 believed trapped underground.

Rescue teams have been working around the clock, calling out into the tunnels, listening for faint replies, and using specialised equipment to break through collapsed sections. Nepali lawmaker and engineer Shri Ram Neupane, who has been involved in the operation, said they heard voices and intensified their efforts accordingly.

The Trishuli‑3A complex alone had 40 people unaccounted for after the flood. In a neighboring project, the Rasuwa Langtang Khola hydropower site, rescuers recovered two bodies after advancing only 150 metres into its tunnel, while 41 workers remained missing.

The broader disaster, which also impacted parts of Tibet, claimed at least 1,259 lives and left more than 5,000 missing. Indian Army Colonel Parikshit Mehra, who has been advising the rescue, reminded that the first 48 hours are critical for anyone trapped underground. Yet the survival of Shah and Maharjan shows that miracles can happen even after the clock seems to have run out.

Families of the missing are still waiting, clinging to the faint possibility that more survivors might be pulled from the darkness. For now, the successful rescue at Trishuli‑3A stands as a beacon, urging rescuers to keep digging, calling, and hoping.