Two Nepalese Rescued from Power Plant Tunnel 9 Days After Massive Floods

Two Nepalese employees were rescued today, the 4th local time, from a tunnel at a flood-damaged hydroelectric power plant nine days after massive floods struck Nepal.

With this rescue, hopes are growing for the rescue of hundreds of other employees believed to be trapped in various power plant tunnels.

The Nepalese government announced that rescue teams, including the Nepalese army, rescued two living Nepalese employees during search operations inside the tunnel of the Trishuli 3A hydroelectric power plant in Bagmati Province, north-central Nepal.

Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, Nepal's Minister of Energy, said, "One person was just safely rescued from the Trishuli 3A tunnel," and subsequently, Home Minister Ramesh Gurung stated in a release, "We just received news that another person has also been rescued."

Local TV news channels aired footage of the first rescued employee, covered in mud, being carried away from the scene on a rescuer's shoulders.

Medical staff are currently checking the health condition of those rescued.

Ram Neupane, a member of the Nepalese parliament who has been participating in the search operations, told the local media Kathmandu Post that the first rescued employee was identified as Sanjay Sah, a mechanical foreman at the power plant, and the second as Kabir Maharjan, a mechanical supervisor.
MP Neupane stated that they received intelligence suggesting people may still be trapped inside the tunnel and that search operations are continuing.

He said that after hearing voices from inside the tunnel during the search, "The rescue team shouted, 'Do not panic, we are here to rescue you,' and a voice from inside the tunnel replied, 'Understood.'"

Nepalese rescue teams have been conducting search operations believing that hundreds of employees are isolated in multiple hydroelectric power plant tunnels.

In particular, they have concentrated their search efforts on the assumption that about 90 employees may be trapped alive inside the tunnels of two power plants, including Trishuli 3A.

Trishuli 3A is located downstream of the Trishuli River from the Upper Trishuli (UT)-1 hydroelectric power plant where nine missing South Korean employees worked, with the two locations about 6 kilometers apart.

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