Two Trapped Rescue Workers Rescued After 9 Days~Nepal Tunnel
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| Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters |
Rescuers on Friday pulled two survivors from a tunnel at a hydropower plant in Nepal, more than a week after a deadly flood ravaged the Himalayan nation.
Cheers erupted as Nepali Army personnel in hard hats lifted one of the men to the surface, an unlikely rescue that prompted hope that others could be saved from the damaged Upper Trishuli 3A hydropower project. More than 40 other workers were thought to be inside the tunnel, according to two people briefed on the rescue operations, including a senior Army officer, though it was not clear how many were still alive.
The survivors were said to be in stable condition at an Army hospital in Kathmandu, the capital.
“It had been nine days and everybody’s sense of hope was waning,” said Dev Sah, the brother-in-law of Sanjay Sah, one of the two rescued workers. “He has received a new life today.”
The body of a third man, a mechanical engineer, was also recovered on Friday, according to Dirghayu Kumar Shrestha, the head of the Nepal Electricity Authority. His agency owns the plant being developed along the Trishuli River, one of two valleys where torrents of water mixed with rock and debris surged through last week after a glacial collapse.
The disaster killed more than 1,300 people in Nepal and Tibet and left thousands of others missing. The raging floodwaters washed away roads, bridges and in some cases entire villages. More than 4,000 people are missing in Nepal and neighboring Tibet, including hundreds who worked on hydropower construction sites in Nepal, according to the country’s government.
The flood left behind a dense mixture of sludge and mud that Nepal Army officers, aided by technical teams from India, China and other countries, have been working through in a desperate search for survivors.
Here’s what else we’re covering:
Survivors: The other worker rescued on Friday was identified as Kabir Maharjan. His wife, Hirashova Maharjan, said in an interview at the Army hospital: “We’re so happy. We are crying with happiness.”
Hydropower: Nepal’s robust hydroelectric industry harnesses the fast-flowing waters in the Himalayas. Many of the country’s hydropower projects were built along the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers, which bore the brunt of the flooding. Read more ›
Last Rites: Some families of the missing, accepting that they may never receive the remains of their loved ones, have begun to perform symbolic Hindu cremations. Read more ›
Flood Causes: Glacier meltwater and a thawing permafrost could have contributed to destabilizing the rock and ice, visual analysis shows. Read more ›
Path of Destruction: Maps and images show how the giant torrent of mud, water, rocks and ice swept through the Himalayan valleys, destroying roads, snapping bridges and toppling buildings. Read more ›
Aid Appeal: For those who want to help, here is a guide.
Firefighters rescued a woman after she was trapped for 30 hours after an earthquake in Cali, Colombia, last month.Federico Rios for The New York Times The rescue on Friday of two trapped workers from a hydropower project in Nepal, more than a week after devastating floods swept through, was a rare piece of hopeful news amid the growing numbers of dead and missing.
The first 48 to 72 hours after natural disasters are typically a critical window for finding survivors. In Nepal, the disaster left many miles of roads unusable and hindered communications, making it harder to find people.
Here are a few other unlikely rescues.
8 days buried in rubble in Venezuela
A survivor who had been trapped for more than a week in La Guaira, Venezuela, after earthquakes this summer.Maxwell Briceno/Reuters In June, back-to-back earthquakes devastated large coastal areas near Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, killing more than 6,500 people. After the quakes, officials said, thousands of people were trapped inside collapsed buildings.
Emergency workers were able to make some unlikely rescues. Eight days after the earthquakes, a 44-year-old man was savedfrom a collapsed basement.
To help find people who were trapped, 140 dogs from 21 countrieswere mobilized, the United Nations’ main humanitarian agency said.
Trapped for 30 hours in Colombia
The site where firefighters had to make their way through a narrow tunnel under more than 20 feet of rubble to free a woman in Cali, Colombia, last month.Federico Rios for The New York Times An earthquake struck Colombia last month, killing more than 300 people, damaging hundreds of buildings in the country’s west and prompting a frantic search for survivors.
Rescue workers pulled a 31-year-old woman from under earthquake debris after she had been trapped for 30 hours.
To get to her, firefighters had made their way through a narrow tunnel under more than 20 feet of rubble in temperatures exceeding 94 degrees Fahrenheit.
Weeks in a Thai cave
Rescued boys from a flooded cave being evacuated to a hospital in northern Thailand in 2018.Vincent Thian/Associated Press In a rescue that transfixed Thailand and the world, a boys’ soccer team and its 25-year-old coach were rescued after nearly three weeks in a flooded cave complex in the country’s north in 2018.
The group entered the complex after soccer practice and were stuck after being caught unaware by rising floodwaters. Rescuers found the team after 10 days, but it took several more to extract them.
A team of cave divers used a mix of trial and error, skill, massive water pumps, miles of guide rope and strategically placed air tanks along a two-mile-long escape route, much of it submerged. One diver died in preparing the evacuation.
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