Two Workers Pulled Alive From Flooded Trishuli Tunnel After Nine Days

Overview

• A glacier collapse on August 26th triggered avalanches, floods and landslides along the Nepal–Tibet border that swept through river valleys and buried multiple hydropower sites and communities.
• Rescuers confirmed two survivors from the Trishuli-3/3A tunnel, identifying them as Sanjay Shah and Kabir Maharjan, and airlifted them to a military hospital in Kathmandu for treatment.
• Search teams reached the trapped workers by drilling ventilation ducts and excavating muddy, waterlogged tunnel passages, and said technical specialists from India, China and South Korea helped the operations.
• Official counts remain fluid with roughly 1,287 dead and about 5,083 reported missing, and hundreds of hydropower employees still unaccounted for at affected projects including at least 557 missing at Trishuli-3A.
• Authorities estimate heavy infrastructure and economic losses—about US$2.56 billion in initial damage with roughly US$52.6 million needed for early recovery—and say tunneling and ventilation work will continue because voices and other signs suggest more people may still be alive.