KATHMANDU: Rescue teams on Saturday pulled a Chinese national alive from a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydroelectric Project, nearly two weeks after the devastating flood that swept through Nepal’s northern districts, while rescuers separately saved a woman trapped inside a debris-buried house in Nuwakot.
The Chinese national, identified as Luhaitao, was rescued from about 225 metres inside the tunnel by a joint team involving the Nepali Army and foreign personnel. He was found alive and brought out of the tunnel, with his health being evaluated. Further search and rescue operations at the hydropower project are continuing.
The rescue comes a day after two Nepali workers, Sanjay Sah and Kabir Maharjan, were pulled alive from a tunnel at the Trishuli-3A Hydroelectric Project after being trapped for nine days. The two rescues have raised hopes that more people could still be alive inside underground structures across the flood-hit hydropower projects.
Authorities have said around 900 workers from multiple hydropower projects were unaccounted for following the August 26 disaster, with hundreds believed to have been trapped inside tunnels. Rescue teams have been working through mud, collapsed sections and debris using heavy equipment and specialised personnel. Foreign rescue and technical teams have also joined the Nepali Army in the increasingly difficult operation.
The August 26 disaster devastated settlements and infrastructure along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river systems. A massive surge of water, ice, rock and mud swept downstream, destroying hydropower infrastructure, roads, bridges and houses. The disaster has left a huge number of people dead or missing and triggered one of Nepal’s largest ongoing search-and-rescue operations.
Woman trapped in debris-buried house rescued alive
In a separate rescue operation in Betrawati, Nuwakot, an Armed Police Force team led by Inspector Suman BK rescued Chandika Shrestha (64) alive from the fourth floor of a four-storey house owned by her husband, Anand Shrestha.
The house had been buried under debris following the devastating floods. Shrestha, according to reports, was found unconscious on the top floor of the house in Bidur Municipality-10, Betrawati. The building had been heavily inundated with mud and rubble following landslides and flooding in the area.
A nine-member team from Nepal's Armed Police Force (APF) carried out the rescue operation and managed to reach Shrestha after searching through the debris.
Shrestha was brought out alive and preparations were being made to airlift her to Kathmandu by helicopter for further medical treatment, according to APF co-spokesperson DSP Shailendra Thapa.
The rescue comes amid a series of extraordinary survival stories in Nuwakot and surrounding areas following devastating flash floods and landslides.
The disasters have caused widespread destruction across parts of Nepal, with flash floods and landslides affecting communities in and around the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding districts.
