Rescuers in Nepal pulled two tunnel workers alive on September 4, 2026, from a hydropower station along the Trishuli River, nine days after devastating floods and mudslides swept the region, according to statements from Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha’s office and local officials. The survivors, identified as mechanical foreman Sanjay Sah and mechanical supervisor Kabir Maharjan, were trapped following an ice, rock, and mud slide disaster that struck on August 26 along the China-Nepal border.
Rescuers in Nepal Pull Two Workers Alive From Hydropower Tunnel Nine Days After Disaster
The successful extraction at the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project provides a breakthrough in an ongoing disaster response that has recorded more than 1,250 bodies recovered and more than 5,000 people remaining missing, according to figures reported by Agence France-Presse and the Associated Press. Emergency teams continue searching through packed debris across 12 damaged hydropower projects in the region where officials estimate hundreds of workers were trapped.
Rescue Operation at Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project
Search teams dug through 50 to 60 meters of debris to reach the trapped workers after detecting faint sounds from inside the structure. Arnold Dix, president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association who supported the operation remotely, told AFP that rescue workers called into the tunnel and received a response of “hunchha,” meaning yes or OK.
Following the audio breakthrough, rescue crews broke through the blockage and brought out both men. Home Minister Sudan Gurung confirmed the identities of the survivors as 30-year-old Sanjay Shah and 45-year-old Kabir Maharjan. Local television broadcasts showed the first rescued worker covered in mud and being carried away from the site on a rescuer’s shoulder.
The Nepal Army confirmed that both men received medical treatment. An aide to Energy Minister Shrestha stated that Sah’s injuries were not critical, while Maharjan experienced immobility in his hands and legs. Both survivors were subsequently airlifted from an army base in Nuwakot to a hospital in Kathmandu for treatment, according to Reuters reporting.
Broader Impact and Missing Workers Across Nepal
The August 26 disaster was triggered by a gigantic wave caused by a rock and ice avalanche on the upper reaches of the Trishuli River and the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa. The Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal reported that at least 557 workers were missing from the Trishuli 3A project alone, with about 115 believed trapped inside the main tunnel.
Government officials estimate that roughly 900 workers total were trapped across tunnels at hydropower projects along the affected river basins. Communication Minister Bikram Timilsina stated on social media that authorities remain hopeful for further rescues as operations press forward with assistance from international experts originating from India, China, and South Korea.
Cross-border impacts were also recorded by authorities. According to reports from official Chinese channels cited by international wire services, 21 people were killed and 541 remained missing on the Tibet side of the border following the same glacial event.
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