Miraculous rescue in Nepal: two people found alive ten days after the flood

BarcelonaWhen it was already starting to seem almost impossible, it happened. This Friday, 10 days after the great flood that devastated Nepal, two workers trapped in a tunnel of a hydroelectric project under construction have been rescued alive. The men have reported that there are more people alive inside the infrastructure.

The survivors were located about 170 meters from the entrance of the tunnel. The Nepalese rescue teams heard voices inside, and from that moment on, they intensified the rescue efforts. Until this Friday they managed to get them out. Before freeing them, the rescuers were able to establish a brief communication with the two trapped people: "Do not be afraid, we are rescuing you," they shouted toward the interior, from where the trapped workers responded with an "Okay!".

The two rescued people are Sanjay Sah, a mechanical foreman, and Kabir Mahran, a mechanical supervisor. Both were working on the Trishuli 3A hydroelectric project, located in the Nuwakot district, north of Kathmandu, in one of the areas most affected by the floods on August 26. Reports prepared by the authorities indicate that 42 workers were trapped in this underground power plant.

Upon being rescued, Sah recounted to a team from the Nepalese army what the moments prior to the arrival of the flood were like. "I told everyone [the workers] that there had been an accident at the main dam and I asked them to flee. By the time I finished doing so, I had already lost the opportunity to get out. I could not escape."

Hundreds of missing workers

Rescue efforts have been focused for days on various similar infrastructures in the region, where hundreds of workers remain missing. Everything suggests that the majority may have been trapped in tunnels blocked by mud and debris.

Ten days after the flood, the death toll in Nepal and Tibet has risen to 1,280, and the number of missing persons remains at 5,600, including about 800 foreigners. Amid the devastation, 85,000 people have been left homeless.