A Chinese national has been rescued alive from inside a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Nepal, while a 60-year-old woman was pulled out alive from under debris in Nuwakot district, — in stunning rescue operations more than a week after a devastating flash flood struck the country’s northern region.
According to latest figures, the August 26 tsunami-like flood in the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa has killed as many as 1,344 people, with 4,898 remaining unaccounted for.
The Chinese man, identified as Luhaitao, was found at a point about 225 metres inside the tunnel and rescued at around 1.30pm on Saturday, the Nepali Army said.
He was taken for medical assessment and further care, while search and rescue operations continued inside the tunnel.
Advertisement
The rescue was carried out by a joint team of Nepali Army personnel and foreign rescuers as efforts intensified to locate people believed to be trapped inside tunnels at several hydropower projects following the massive mudslide and flooding along the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river systems.
Security agencies, including the Nepali Army and Armed Police Force, have stepped up searches at the affected sites.
On Friday, rescuers pulled two people alive from a tunnel at the Trishuli-3A Hydropower Project, while operations to find others remain under way.
The August 26 floods caused extensive damage to hydropower projects and other infrastructure in the affected areas. A number of workers and others are believed to have been trapped inside tunnels and have remained out of contact since the disaster.
Before Luhaitao was rescued, the Nepali Army said a joint team of 20 army personnel and project representatives had been carrying out searches inside the Upper Trishuli-1 tunnel.
In another remarkable recovery, a 60-year-old woman was pulled out alive from the upper floor of a four-storey house buried under debris in Betrawati, in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, after being trapped there for 10 days straight, according to The Kathmandu Post.
The woman, identified as Chandika Shrestha was found unconscious and rescued from the house in Bidur Municipality-10,
The Nepali Army has also been working with foreign technical teams, including specialists from India, China and South Korea, as it tries to reach people stranded inside tunnels and other structures at several hydropower projects.
