Two hydropower workers rescued after nine days trapped in Nepal flood tunnel
Kabir Maharjan and foreman Sanjay Sah survived nine days in an air pocket of a tunnel after a glacier-induced flood devastated Nepal's Trishuli valley.
A glacier break on Aug 26 unleashed a flood that swept away villages and submerged twelve hydropower sites in Nepal's Trishuli valley, killing over 1,300 people. At the Upper Trishuli 3A project, workers including Kabir Maharjan and mechanical foreman Sanjay Sah took shelter in a short upward-sloping cable-duct tunnel that trapped an air pocket. Over the next nine days, rescuers faced flooded tunnels, heavy debris and repeated rain, using boreholes, blasting and high-pressure jets to reach the trapped chamber.
On the ninth day, a faint sound led them to a hand, and they broke through to find the two men alive. Both men were carried out, with Sah needing to be lifted on a rescuer’s back, while Maharjan was placed on a stretcher and later struggled to recognize his wife at the hospital.
Why it matters
The rescue shows the challenges of disaster response in Nepal's mountainous terrain and offers hope for other trapped workers.
How this story developed
- Sep 3 Two workers rescued from Nepal hydropower tunnel after weeks of flood devastation
- Sep 4 More than 1,250 people have died and nearly 4,000 are missing after floods devastated Nepal’s Bhotekoshi-Trisuli basin, prompting calls for international climate-justice support.
- Sep 4 A third worker’s body was recovered and officials said about 39 people remain trapped.
- Sep 5 A Chinese worker was rescued from the Upper Trishuli-3A tunnel and is undergoing medical evaluation.
- Sep 5 A 64‑year‑old Nepali woman was rescued from a mud‑filled home in Nuwakot.
- Sep 5 After more than a week of searching, a 64-year-old woman was rescued from a mud-filled house and a Chinese worker was saved from a deep tunnel, rekindling optimism amid Nepal's deadliest floods in a decade.
- Sep 6 An unidentified body was recovered near the Wi dam.
- Sep 6 Prime Minister Balendra Shah announced Nepal will press the disaster at the UN General Assembly.
- Sep 7 Chinese worker Lu Haitao was rescued from a 225‑metre hydropower tunnel and air‑lifted to a hospital.
- Sep 7 The United Nations launched a $50 million appeal to aid flood‑affected residents.
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