Two Survivors Rescued in Nepal 10 Days After Catastrophic Floods

Rescuers in Nepal located two people alive in separate operations on Saturday, 10 days after massive floods devastated parts of the country and left thousands missing. A Chinese man was found inside a 225-metre tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project. According to Nepal’s military, a joint team of Nepali army personnel and South Korean disaster experts brought him out. He was later evacuated by helicopter and was undergoing a health assessment. The search at the hydropower site was part of a wider effort focused on about a dozen projects across Nepal. The Guardian reported that approximately 900 workers are missing from those sites, with around 500 believed to be trapped inside large tunnels. Rescue teams from India, China, South Korea and the United States have been searching damaged structures and debris for survivors. A second rescue took place in the badly affected town of Nuwakot, where responders found a 64-year-old Nepali woman beneath mud inside a damaged house. Photographs released by the Nepali army showed rescuers pulling her from the sludge. She was airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment. Police officers cheered as the woman was brought to safety, while images from the hydropower project showed the Chinese worker being carried out of the tunnel before his evacuation. The floods were triggered by a glacial and rock collapse on 26 August. Rescue operations have been hindered by extensive damage to infrastructure, including the collapse of more than 40 bridges, as well as rivers that have continued to swell unpredictably. Nepal’s disaster management agency has reported at least 1,375 deaths and more than 5,000 people missing. Experts have warned that the likelihood of finding additional survivors in the tunnels is decreasing as the search continues.