A Chinese national trapped inside a hydropower tunnel in Nepal for 10 days following catastrophic flash floods has been rescued alive, bringing relief to his family in China after days of anxious waiting. According to state broadcaster CCTV, rescuers carried 49-year-old Lu Haitao out of a 225-meter (740-foot) tunnel on Saturday and evacuated him by helicopter to a hospital, where he remains in stable condition.
The Rescue Operation and Survivor’s Account
The August 26 floods, which Nepal’s disaster management agency attributes to a likely glacier collapse, have killed more than 1,300 people across the country, with nearly 4,900 still missing. Lu recalled climbing to the highest point inside the hydropower tunnel. According to audio shared by CCTV, he initially thought the rescue whistles he heard were a product of his imagination.
Lu told a Chinese embassy staffer that emergency personnel could not hear him when he first shouted toward their lights. “When they shone before my eyes, I couldn’t believe it,” Lu said, according to CCTV audio. “When they shone before my eyes, I no longer shouted. I had lost hope.”
Family Anxiety and Cross-Border Impact
Back in China, Lu’s relatives endured days of uncertainty before receiving confirmation of his survival. Lu Hairong, his sister, told state media Red Star News that she received a phone call about the rescue before official reports emerged, but only believed it after seeing his photograph in the news. A former farmer from Henan province in central China who took on spare carpentry work, Lu had traveled to Nepal for his first overseas job in February alongside a fellow villager, his sister told Red Star News.
Lu had not shared his exact working location, forcing his family to monitor news updates through a mutual aid group for families of the missing, according to Cover News. Meanwhile, Lu’s cousin, Lu Haiqing, stated that her mind went blank after learning he was missing on the sixth day following the floods. She searched daily for Nepal news reports and used artificial intelligence tools to translate Nepali coverage into Chinese, weeping on her way to work daily, according to Jiupai News.
Regional Devastation Along the Border
The disaster’s toll extended across the international boundary into Tibet, where severe mudslides struck the Gyirong border facility. According to CCTV reports from Saturday evening, 43 people died on the Chinese side of the border, while 519 individuals remained missing, including 261 foreign nationals.
Rescue teams utilized excavators to clear thick layers of rocks and gravel covering the border crossing area. Foreign media pool coverage from a government-organized trip showed yellow chrysanthemums being laid on the ground within the disaster zone to pay tribute to the victims of the flash floods and mudslides.
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