Sanjay Sah, who was rescued after being trapped for nine days in a hydroelectric power plant tunnel following massive floods in Nepal on August 26, has shared his harrowing experience.

Sah, who was discharged from an army hospital in Kathmandu on the 11th, gave an interview to Reuters.

"I have worked as a mechanical foreman for over three years at the Trishuli 3A hydroelectric power plant in the central-northern Bagmati Province," Sah said. "Although I knew the layout of the tunnel inside out, I could not escape on my own."

"Before the floods, I knew every corner of the tunnel and could go deep inside without any difficulty," Sah said. "After the floods, the entire structure (inside the tunnel) completely changed."

However, Sah did not give up.

He was certain that a rescue team would come.

That conviction did not change even as days passed.

At first, he moved around different spots inside the tunnel, but after realizing that moving might trap him in an even more dangerous place, he decided to stay in one spot.

He testified that with nothing to eat inside the tunnel, he survived by drinking muddy water and water seeping from the rocks.

"I kept repeating to myself, 'I am not alone,' and thought about my two-year-old daughter, my wife, and my other family members outside who must be suffering even greater pain," Sah said.

Choking back tears, he added, "Thinking of them gave me strength. I kept chanting the name of God and praying."

Sah was safely rescued on the 4th, nine days after being trapped in the tunnel.

About 10 hours before his rescue, he began hearing the sound of an excavator, and the hope that kept him going—enduring muddy water and thinking of his family—became a reality.

"I completely lost all sense of time (inside the tunnel)," Sah said. "I thought only two or three days had passed, and I was shocked to find out that it had actually been ten days."

Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News