Nepal search teams rescue two workers from hydropower tunnel

‘Miracle’ rescue nine days after devastating flood raises hope that more people could still be found alive.

Nepal army personnel carry a worker rescued from a tunnel at the Trishuli-3A Hydropower Project on September 4, 2026 [AFP]

Search teams have rescued two men from a hydropower tunnel buried by debris during the flash flood that devastated Nepal nine days ago.

The two workers were pulled alive from the main tunnel at the construction site of the Trishuli 3A plant early on Friday. The rescue raises hope of recovering more of the hundreds of people believed to remain trapped in hydropower tunnels .

list 1 of 3 Nepal search operations continue a week after catastrophic floods

list 2 of 3 Photos: Symbolic funerals held in Nepal for missing flood victims

list 3 of 3 Rescue efforts continue as Nepal-China flood death toll rises to 1,280

The cascade, believed to have been triggered by the partial collapse of a glacier , killed more than 1,200 people and devastated entire communities, as water, rock and mud raced down Himalayan valleys.

A video released by Nepal’s Ministry of Energy showed cheering as a man emerged through a small muddy opening. He was helped to his feet by rescuers and carried on the backs of emergency workers, raising his hand as they took him towards a helicopter.

A second man covered in mud pressed his hands together in prayer as he was carried away on a stretcher.

Nepal’s army personnel carry a worker who was trapped inside a tunnel, during a rescue operation at Trishuli-3A Hydropower Project in Nepal’s Rasuwa district [AFP]

The rescued men were identified as Sanjay Shah, 30, a mechanical foreman, and Kabir Maharjan, 45, a mechanical supervisor, by the minister of home affairs of Nepal, Sudan Gurung.

“I am so happy, my heart is lighter,” Maharjan’s brother Amir told the AFP news agency.

The Nepali Army said the two men were receiving medical treatment and would be taken to a hospital in Kathmandu, while “search and rescue operations are ongoing .”

The pair are the first to be rescued from hydropower stations or construction projects in Nepal. At least 557 workers are missing from the Trishuli 3A project. About 115 are believed to have been trapped in the main tunnel.

An army spokesperson reported that one of the survivors had told rescuers more people remain alive inside the tunnel.

Nepal’s Communication Minister Bikram Timilsina said officials remain hopeful that more workers will be rescued. “We are waiting for the rescue of more and more people,” he wrote on social media.

Rescuers have been desperately seeking survivors after the disaster on August 26 left more than 5,000 people missing in Nepal and Chinese-controlled Tibet.

Nepal has largely refused international help. However, Australia sent a team of drone specialists to the country on Friday.

The 15-member team, predominantly consisting of state emergency operatives, is joining the rescue operations on the request of Nepal’s government, authorities said. Thirty-six Australian citizens remain missing.

“We are still holding out hope that people might still be surviving in some sort of locations and hopefully this team can help locate any of those people,” Jeremy Fewtrell, the commissioner of Fire and Rescue New South Wales, told reporters at Sydney Airport.

At least 1,287 people have been confirmed to have been killed in the disaster in Nepal, and tens of thousands displaced. China has said 21 people were killed and 541 were missing on the Tibet side.

毁灭性洪水过后九天发生的“奇迹”救援行动，燃起了人们的希望，或许还有更多幸存者能够被找到。

2026年9月4日，尼泊尔军队人员抬着一名从特里苏里-3A水电站隧道中获救的工人。[法新社]

搜救队从九天前尼泊尔遭受山洪袭击时被瓦砾掩埋的水电站隧道中救出了两名男子。

周五清晨，两名工人在特里苏里3A电站施工现场的主隧道中被成功救出。此次救援行动使人们燃起了希望，相信还能救出更多被困在水电站隧道中的数百人。

尼泊尔洪灾一周后，搜救行动仍在继续（共3条，第1条）

图2/3：尼泊尔为失踪洪灾遇难者举行象征性葬礼

（共3条）救援工作仍在继续，尼泊尔-中国洪灾死亡人数升至1280人

据信是由冰川部分崩塌引发的这场山体滑坡，造成 1200 多人死亡，并摧毁了整个社区，因为水、岩石和泥浆从喜马拉雅山谷奔涌而下。

尼泊尔能源部发布的一段视频显示，一名男子从一个泥泞的小洞口钻了出来，周围响起一片欢呼声。救援人员将他扶起来，背在救援人员背上，他举起手，被抬向直升机。

第二名浑身沾满泥浆的男子被担架抬走时，双手合十祈祷。

在尼泊尔拉苏瓦地区特里苏里-3A水电站的救援行动中，尼泊尔军队人员抬着一名被困在隧道内的工人。[法新社]

尼泊尔内政部长苏丹·古隆确认，获救男子分别是 30 岁的机械工长桑杰·沙阿和 45 岁的机械主管卡比尔·马哈尔詹。

“我太高兴了，我的心情轻松多了，”马哈尔詹的兄弟阿米尔告诉法新社。

尼泊尔军方表示，这两名男子正在接受治疗，将被送往加德满都的一家医院，同时“搜救行动仍在进行中”。

这对夫妇是尼泊尔首批从水电站或建筑工地获救的人员。特里苏里3A项目至少有557名工人失踪，其中约115人据信被困在主隧道内。

一名军方发言人称，一名幸存者告诉救援人员，隧道内还有更多人活着。

尼泊尔通信部长比克拉姆·蒂米尔西纳表示，官员们仍然抱有希望，相信会有更多工人获救。他在社交媒体上写道：“我们正在等待越来越多的人获救。”

8月26日发生的灾难导致尼泊尔和中国控制的西藏地区5000多人失踪，救援人员一直在拼命寻找幸存者。

尼泊尔基本上拒绝了国际援助。然而，澳大利亚于周五向该国派遣了一支无人机专家团队。

据当局称，这支主要由国家紧急事务人员组成的15人救援队是应尼泊尔政府的请求加入救援行动的。目前仍有36名澳大利亚公民失踪。

新南威尔士州消防救援局局长杰里米·菲尤特雷尔在悉尼机场告诉记者：“我们仍然抱有希望，认为可能还有一些人幸存下来，希望这支队伍能够帮助找到这些人。”

尼泊尔的灾难已确认造成至少1287人死亡，数万人流离失所。中国方面称，西藏一侧有21人死亡，541人失踪。