Rescuers in Nepal successfully extracted a Chinese man and a woman in separate operations on Saturday, a week and a half after severe floods ravaged the country. The man was rescued from a hydropower tunnel, making him the third worker to be saved from the Trishuli hydropower project. Nepalese military personnel and South Korean disaster experts collaborated to rescue the man from a 225-meter tunnel, where he was then airlifted for a health evaluation. A photo released by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV captured the moment when the man was carried out of the tunnel by rescuers.
The rescued man expressed disbelief upon being found, mentioning that he had repeatedly shouted for help whenever he saw the rescue team’s lights, but they couldn’t hear him initially. He was later transported to a hospital and reported to be in stable condition by CCTV. Rescue operations have intensified around 12 hydropower projects in Nepal, with approximately 900 workers missing and an estimated 500 trapped in various tunnels. Specialized teams from India, China, South Korea, and the United States are combing through debris, damaged structures, and tunnels in the hope of finding more survivors.
In another part of flood-affected Nuwakot town, a woman was rescued from a house and airlifted to Kathmandu for medical care. Images from Nepal’s army depicted rescuers discovering the woman covered in mud inside the damaged structure. After giving her water, they safely extracted her, wrapping her in a grey blanket. The devastating floods on August 26, believed to be triggered by a glacier collapse, have claimed the lives of at least 1,300 individuals, with over 5,000 still unaccounted for, as reported by Nepal’s disaster management agency.