In a remarkable moment of hope amid one of Nepal’s deadliest disasters, two hydropower workers have been rescued alive after spending nine days trapped inside a tunnel buried by catastrophic flooding and debris.
The Nepal army announced Friday that rescuers reached the two men at a hydropower installation along the Trishuli River, according to The Wall Street Journal. The rescue came as Nepal continues to mourn more than 1,250 people killed in the disaster, while more than 5,000 people remain missing.
The army described the rescue as the “rebirth of two lives.”
Images from the scene showed rescue personnel surrounding the mud-covered survivors as they were brought from the tunnel. According to The Wall Street Journal, one of the men joined his hands in a gesture of thanks or prayer as he was carried away on a stretcher.
Both survivors were later flown by helicopter to a military hospital in Kathmandu, district police chief Bipin Regmi told the Journal.
Their discovery offered a rare sign of hope as rescuers continued searching for other workers who may remain trapped underground.
Some 42 workers have been missing from the hydropower project since the flood struck, according to Madan Timsina, deputy managing director of the Nepal Electricity Authority. The facility employed approximately 60 people.
Reaching the underground complex required an extraordinary rescue effort. Floodwaters and debris had transformed the surrounding landscape, forcing engineers and surveyors to study maps and construction plans to determine where crews should dig.
Army engineers conducted a controlled explosion to gain access to the tunnel, while excavators removed mud and debris from a depth of approximately 30 feet, according to Nepal army officials cited by The Wall Street Journal.
Seventy-five army troops and approximately 18 paramilitary personnel were involved in the operation. Much of the heavy equipment required for the rescue had to be transported by air from Kathmandu, and replacement parts also had to be flown in when machinery failed.
Then, early Friday, rescuers finally broke through.
According to Timsina, rescuers shone lights into the opening and called out. To their astonishment, they heard a faint response from inside.
“We are the Nepal army,” the rescuers called back. “We are coming.”
The two men were eventually brought safely from the tunnel. The army also recovered one body from the site.
Search operations were continuing Friday for others believed to remain trapped inside the hydropower complex.
The survival of the two workers stands in stark contrast to the immense loss surrounding them. More than 5,000 people remain missing across Nepal, according to the country’s disaster-management agency, including hundreds of workers connected to hydropower facilities.
Across the border in China, the disaster has also claimed more than 20 lives. According to The Wall Street Journal, rescuers reopened a road Thursday leading to Gyirong Port, an immigration checkpoint struck by a massive wave. Groups with travelers in the area when the flooding occurred indicated that authorities had found no signs of survivors at that location.
For Catholics following the tragedy, the extraordinary rescue offers a powerful occasion for prayer — both in thanksgiving for the lives saved and for the thousands of families still waiting for news of missing loved ones.
As rescue crews continue their dangerous work, Nepal remains a nation grieving enormous loss while holding onto the hope that, even after nine days beneath the mud and devastation, more lives may still be found.
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