Nepal and South Korea Rescue Teams Save Chinese National; Survivor Found at Power Plant Where Missing South Koreans Worked

Ten days after massive floods swept through the Himalayan mountainous region along the Nepal-China border, a Chinese national was rescued from a hydroelectric power plant tunnel on the 5th (local time).

This follows yesterday's rescue of two Nepali power plant employees, marking the second consecutive day of successful rescue operations.

Attention is now focused on future rescue efforts, as the Chinese national was rescued from the exact power plant where nine missing South Koreans had been working.

Raja Ram Basnet, a spokesperson for the Nepalese Army, announced that they "just rescued a Chinese national from a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli (UT)-1 hydroelectric power plant construction site" in the Rasuwa district of the central-northern Bagmati Province.

The joint rescue team, consisting of the Nepalese Army and South Korean disaster experts, found the man alive inside a 225-meter-long tunnel, and military medical staff are currently checking his health condition, the military reported.

In connection with this, the Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) also stated that they rescued a surviving Chinese national from a tunnel near the weir dam, the upper dam of the power plant, earlier today.

This marks the 9th person rescued by the KDRT since its establishment in 2007.

The KDRT previously rescued 8 people during the 2023 earthquake in Türkiye.

Photos and videos posted by the Nepalese Army on Facebook showed the survivor walking out of the tunnel supported by rescue workers before being evacuated by helicopter.

Local media outlet The Kathmandu Post reported that the rescued Chinese national is named Lu Haitao.

Previously, the day before, Nepali rescue teams rescued two Nepali employees, Sanjay Sah (30) and Kabir Maharjan (45), from the tunnel of the Trishuli 3A hydroelectric power plant, respectively.

The survivors were transferred to a military hospital and are currently in the intensive care unit, though their pulse, respiration, and body temperature are reportedly stable.

The Nepali rescue authorities have been conducting search operations under the estimation that hundreds of employees are trapped inside various hydroelectric power plant tunnels.

The Nepalese Army also announced that it rescued Chandika Shrestha (60, female) from the second floor of a four-layer house buried under flood debris in the Nuwakot district of Bagmati Province, and is currently evacuating her to the capital Kathmandu by helicopter.

(Photo provided by Nepalese Army, AP/Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.