"People are here," Voice heard inside tunnel... 2 Nepalese dramatically rescued

Two Nepalese employees who were trapped in a hydropower plant tunnel due to massive floods in Nepal have been rescued after 9 days.

As a result, expectations are also growing for the rescue of hundreds of other employees estimated to be trapped in various power plant tunnels.

The Nepalese government announced that rescue teams, including the Nepalese army, rescued two living employees while searching the tunnel of the Trishuli 3A hydropower plant in Bagmati Province, north-central Nepal, local time today (the 4th).

Nepalese Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha said, "One person was just safely rescued from the Trishuli 3A tunnel."

Subsequently, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak (Note: using original text translation context as provided) stated in a statement, "We just received news that another person has been rescued."

Local TV news channels broadcasted footage of the first rescued employee, covered in mud, being carried out on a rescue worker's shoulder.

Medical staff are checking the health status of the rescued employees.

Ram Neupane, a Nepalese lawmaker who has participated in the search operations, told the local media Kathmandu Post that the first rescued employee is Sanjay Sah, a mechanical foreman at the power plant, and the second employee is Kabir Maharjan, a mechanical supervisor.

Lawmaker Neupane explained that they obtained information that people may still be trapped inside the tunnel and are continuing the search operations.


Lawmaker Neupane stated that human voices were heard from inside the tunnel during the search.

He shared, "The rescue team shouted, 'Don't panic. We are here to rescue you,' and a response came from inside the tunnel saying, 'Understood.'"

Nepalese rescue teams have been conducting search operations under the belief that hundreds of employees are trapped in multiple hydropower plant tunnels.

In particular, they have concentrated search capabilities believing that about 90 employees may be trapped alive in the tunnels of two power plants, including Trishuli 3A.

Trishuli 3A is located downstream of the Trishuli River from the Upper Trishuli (UT)-1 hydropower plant, where nine missing South Korean employees worked.

The two power plants are located about 6km apart from each other.

(Photo: Screenshot of Kathmandu Post homepage, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.