Two men have been rescued alive from a tunnel in Nepal, nine days after catastrophic flooding tore through the area, offering a rare burst of hope as emergency teams say they have detected more voices coming from inside a hydropower facility.
The men, whose names have not been released, were brought out one after the other on Friday through a narrow opening at the Trishuli 3A hydropower plant. Local TV stations aired footage showing the mud-covered workers being carried away from the scene on the shoulders of rescuers.
In dramatic video obtained by CNN, roughly a dozen rescue workers can be seen hauling one survivor from a small hole in the ground before breaking into applause as he was brought to safety.
Authorities later confirmed the rescued pair were a mechanical foreman and a mechanical supervisor. Both men are now being monitored by medical teams, according to army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet.
Their rescue came during an urgent and painstaking effort to drill into the tunnel network at the Trishuli 3A hydropower plant, where at least 557 workers remain unaccounted for. Officials believe around 115 people may be trapped inside the main tunnel after the deadly floods that struck on August 26.
Scores of workers had been inside the 2.5-mile tunnel, which connects to an underground powerhouse, when a glacier collapse triggered the devastating surge of water.
With each passing day, fears had grown for those missing at the river-side hydropower sites, a group that includes workers from Nepal as well as foreign nationals from China, South Korea and India.
But Friday’s breakthrough has renewed cautious optimism. Bipin Regmi, the police chief in the badly affected Nuwakot district, told CNN that rescue teams “heard voices” during the operation, raising hopes that more people could still be alive inside the tunnels.
Dramatic video obtained by CNN showed about a dozen rescuers pulling a man from a small hole in the ground
Rescue crews are seen carrying one of the freed power plant workers to safety
The rescue came amid a desperate operation to bore into the tunnel to search for 42 workers who remained unaccounted for following the deadly August 26 floods
At least 1,259 people were killed and more than 5,000 remain missing, according to the country’s disaster management agency. China, as of late Wednesday, said 21 people were killed and 541 were missing on the Tibet side of the border.
About 900 workers are missing from a dozen hydropower projects in Nepal, with roughly 500 believed to be trapped in tunnels, according to local authorities.
Meanwhile, the US State Department has said it is continuing to track about 75 Americans who remain unaccounted for across the Nepal-China border. Sixteen Americans have made their way to safety, US officials announced Wednesday.
Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah opened up about the efforts the government was making to find those who remain missing on Tuesday, as he thanked local and international organizations for their ‘unprecedented courage, patience, support, cooperation and facilitation,’ ABC News reports.
‘We are moving forward from search, rescue and relief distribution to rehabilitation after the devastating flood,’ he then announced on social media.
More than 21,000 security personnel from Nepal’s national police, army and armed forces have been dispatched to aid in the search and rescue efforts, officials said.
As of Wednesday morning, thousands of emergency responders had also doled out medical treatment to at least 4,070 people.
Soldiers are pictured carrying a powerplant worker to safety on Friday morning
A Nepal Army soldier is seen trying to sift through the mud during the search efforts
Nepal army soldiers are pictured working during a search and rescue operation outside a tunnel near the Hydropower Project sites on Wednesday
But throughout the country, roads, villages and buildings were destroyed, Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah has said, adding that at least 48 suspension bridges were damaged – 28 of which will have to be completely replaced.
The government has since released about 1 billion Nepali rupees, or about $6.5 million, to aid in rebuilding the flood-affected areas.
The disaster began on August 26, when the earth started shaking along the Nepal-China border.
The US Geological Survey initially detected the shaking as a magnitude 5.2 earthquake but later determined that a massive section of glacier had collapsed.
The United States Geological Survey described the seismic event as an extremely powerful ‘glacial collapse and debris flow’ that caused catastrophic impacts downstream.
As the ice mass plummeted, it was pulverized into a fast-flowing mix of freezing water, debris and rocks that swept down the mountainside into the Lende Khola River, razing villages along the way.
At least 1,259 people were killed and more than 5,000 remain missing nine days since the flood
Authorities in Nepal have been burying bodies in temporary graves until they can be identified
When the bodies then started piling up in Nepal, authorities started burying the remains in temporary graves until they could be identified.
Crews are working to preserve DNA samples, photographing distinguishing facial features and recording other identifying details.
Each body is also assigned a reference number to help families identify and claim the remains later.
