Rescuers in Nepal successfully extracted a Chinese man and a woman in separate operations on Saturday, almost two weeks after devastating floods struck the nation. The man was saved from a hydropower tunnel, making it three workers rescued from the Trishuli hydropower project. The Nepalese army, along with South Korean disaster experts, carried out the rescue operation, pulling the man from a 225-meter tunnel. He was then airlifted for a health evaluation, with images showing him being transported by helicopter and monitored by an army medic en route. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV released a photo showing the man being carried out of the tunnel by two rescuers. The rescued man expressed his disbelief and gratitude, mentioning how he had repeatedly called out for help whenever he saw the rescue team’s lights.
Following the rescue, the man was taken to the hospital and reported to be in stable condition. Rescue efforts have been concentrated on 12 hydropower projects in Nepal, with around 900 workers missing and about 500 thought to be trapped in various tunnels. Specialized teams from India, China, South Korea, and the United States have been meticulously searching through debris, damaged structures, and tunnels at the project sites in hopes of finding more survivors.
In another part of the flood-affected region, a woman was found alive in a house in Nuwakot town and rescued by Nepal’s army. She was immediately airlifted to Kathmandu for medical treatment. Images shared by the army depicted rescuers locating the woman amidst mud inside the damaged house, providing her with water before safely extracting her, wrapped in a grey blanket.
The devastating floods on August 26 caused an estimated 1,300 fatalities and left over 5,000 individuals missing, believed to be a result of a glacier collapse, as per Nepal’s disaster management agency.