Key facts
- Two workers, Sanjay Sah and Kabir Maharjan, were rescued alive from a Nepal hydropower tunnel.
- They were trapped for nine days following a glacier collapse and subsequent floods.
- Mechanical foreman Sanjay Sah stated his responsibility was to save everyone's lives.
- Officials believe at least 900 people are trapped in tunnels related to six hydropower projects.
Two workers, Sanjay Sah and Kabir Maharjan, have been rescued alive from a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station in Nepal, nine days after a massive ice, rock, and debris slide triggered by a glacier collapse devastated the valley. Mechanical foreman Sah, 30, stated he remained in the tunnel to help others, chanting mantras for nine days to maintain hope. They are the first survivors found from tunnels linked to six hydropower projects along the Trishuli River. The disaster has killed at least 1,287 people in Nepal and left over 5,083 missing, with thousands displaced. Chinese authorities reported 21 deaths and 541 missing in Tibet. Officials estimate that around 900 people may have been trapped in the tunnels of the affected hydropower projects. Sah and Maharjan are in intensive care at an army hospital in Kathmandu.