Two workers have been rescued alive in Nepal after spending nine days trapped underground, giving rescuers and families a rare moment of hope after catastrophic floods devastated the country.
Mechanical foreman Sanjay Sah and mechanical supervisor Kabir Maharjan were pulled from the Trishuli 3A hydropower tunnel on Friday after rescue teams reached them about 170 metres underground.
A Rescue That Changes the Search
The Nepal tunnel rescue is significant because it shows that people trapped inside damaged hydropower facilities may still be alive even after more than a week without contact.
Rescuers had struggled for days to locate and clear the tunnel because it was buried by mud, rocks and other debris following the August 26 disaster. The breakthrough came after teams heard voices from inside the tunnel, confirming that survivors were still there.
The men were taken for medical treatment after being brought to the surface. Their rescue has now strengthened hopes for other missing workers.
Why Their Survival Matters
The Trishuli 3A hydropower tunnel rescue is not only a story of survival. It has changed the mood of an operation that had increasingly focused on recovering bodies and accounting for the missing.
Local authorities say about 900 workers are missing from 12 hydropower projects, with roughly 500 believed to be trapped inside tunnels. At Trishuli 3A alone, dozens of workers are still feared to be underground.
That means the rescue of Sah and Maharjan could influence how aggressively teams continue searching other underground facilities.
More Survivors Could Still Be Found
The biggest question now is whether the Nepal flood survivors rescued from Trishuli 3A will be followed by more breakthroughs.
Sah’s account also adds a human dimension to the disaster. Reuters reported that he stayed behind during the flood to help colleagues escape before becoming trapped himself. He later survived in darkness while waiting for rescuers to reach him.
The disaster has killed more than 1,200 people and left thousands missing, making the two men’s survival an extraordinary development. For families still waiting for news, the rescue offers something that has been in short supply since the floods: hope that the search is not over yet.
