Two Workers Pulled Alive from Nepal Hydropower Tunnel After Nine Days

When the monsoon‑driven floods slammed into Nepal on August 26, they didn’t just wash away houses and roads – they buried sections of several hydropower sites under mud and debris. The Trishuli 3A project, a sprawling complex with a four‑kilometre tunnel that feeds an underground powerhouse, was one of the hardest hit.

For nine long days rescue teams – a mix of Nepali Army engineers, Armed Police Force personnel and volunteers – wrestled with slick, unstable ground, trying to hear any faint voices echoing from the darkness. It was a race against time, because the first 48 hours are generally seen as the most critical for anyone trapped underground.

Then, on Friday, a breakthrough. Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha confirmed that a worker had been pulled out alive. Shortly after, Home Minister Sudan Gurung announced that a second laborer had also emerged from the tunnel.

The two men – later identified by the BBC as Sanjaya Shah and Kabir Maharjan – were covered head‑to‑toe in mud but otherwise breathing. Rescuers quickly administered oxygen and wrapped them in blankets while local TV crews captured the emotional moment of the rescued men being carried on a soldier’s shoulder.

Officials said they heard faint shouts inside the tunnel earlier this week, which spurred a flurry of activity. Heavy‑duty excavators, cutting torches and specialised breathing equipment were deployed to clear a path. Nepali lawmaker and engineer Shri Ram Neupane, who has been on the ground, told reporters that they called out, heard a response, and then intensified the effort to breach the blockage.

Even with this success, the picture remains grim. The Ministry of Energy estimates roughly 900 workers are still unaccounted for across 12 hydropower projects, with about 500 believed to be trapped in tunnels. At Trishuli 3A alone, at least 40 people remain missing.

Rescue crews are also dealing with other sites. In the Rasuwa Langtang Khola project, soldiers recovered two bodies after advancing about 150 metres into a flooded passage, while 41 workers are still missing there.

The August 26 disaster claimed more than 1,250 lives and left over 5,000 people missing nationwide. The floodwaters even crossed into Tibet, where Chinese officials reported 21 deaths and hundreds more unaccounted for.

For now, the survival of Shah and Maharjan offers a sliver of hope. As Colonel Parikshit Mehra of the Indian Army, who has been assisting the effort, reminded the world, “There have been miracles.” The hope is that those miracles will keep coming, one tunnel at a time.