Two Workers Survive Nine Days Trapped in Nepal Tunnel

Kabir Maharjan and Sanjay Sah survived nine days trapped in a flooded tunnel beneath the wreckage of a hydropower plant in Nepal’s Trishuli Valley. An air pocket in an upward-sloping cable tunnel, about 160 meters from the exit, kept them alive. Their rescue raised hopes for 121 workers still believed to be trapped in tunnels across the valley.

The disaster on 26 August was caused by a glacier collapse above the valley. A massive wall of mud and water struck 12 hydropower projects, destroyed villages, killed more than 1,300 people and left thousands missing across Nepal and neighboring Tibet.

In the darkness, Sah drew courage from Hindu prayers. Maharjan drank the muddy water in which he was lying. Rescue efforts were hampered by unstable debris, rain and rubble buried beneath 15 to 30 meters of landslide material. It took crews nearly six days just to reach the tunnel’s buried entrance.

On the 10th day, rescuers began hearing faint sounds as they drilled. They repeatedly switched off their machines and called into the darkness until, in the beam of a light, they saw a hand. Soldiers eventually broke through a small opening, and a voice came from inside: “We’re here.”

Neither man could stand when rescuers reached them. Sah was carried out on a rescuer’s back, while the more seriously injured Maharjan was taken out on a stretcher. At the hospital, Maharjan initially did not even recognize his wife.

(Reuters, bak)