Around 900 workers remain unaccounted for across 12 hydropower projects in Nepal, and authorities believe about 500 of them may be trapped inside tunnels.
NEPAL, — Rescue teams in Nepal brought two workers out alive from a tunnel on Friday as crews continued a high-stakes operation at the Trishul 3A tunnel, officials said.
Nepalese lawmaker Shri Ram Neupane reported the second rescue in a Facebook post soon after army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet confirmed that the first trapped worker had been pulled out during the tunnel rescue effort.
The breakthroughs came nine days after the Aug. 26 floods, which were likely triggered by a glacier collapse and swept through towns and valleys across Nepal.
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Local television news channels aired footage of the first rescued worker, coated in mud, being carried away from the site on a rescuer’s shoulder. Basnet said a medical team was examining him at the scene.
At least 1,259 people were killed and more than 5,000 remain missing, according to the country’s disaster management agency. China, as of late Wednesday, said 21 people were killed and 541 were missing on the Tibet side of the border.
About 900 workers are missing from 12 hydropower projects in Nepal, with roughly 500 believed to be trapped in tunnels, according to local authorities.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.