Overview
- Rescue teams extracted two men from about 170 meters inside the Trishuli 3A hydroelectric tunnel on Friday after days of digging and listening for sounds, and both were flown to hospitals in Kathmandu with one in stable condition and one critical.
- Teams intensified work after they heard voices and briefly communicated with people underground, and one rescued worker said he had shouted with three or four others while reciting mantras to survive.
- The Nepal Army and Armed Police lead the operation using excavators, drills, compressors and controlled blasts, with technical help from international specialists, but progress is slowed by thick mud, debris and damaged access routes.
- Officials say the floods followed a likely glacier collapse on Aug. 26 that damaged multiple hydro projects and infrastructure, a disaster that the national disaster agency links to more than 1,200 dead and over 5,000 missing including roughly 900 hydro workers.
- The immediate priority is reaching any remaining trapped workers in the complex tunnel network while authorities update casualty counts, provide medical care for survivors and coordinate heavy equipment and specialist teams for risky, manual tunnel work.