In a rescue being called a miracle, two hydropower workers were pulled out alive from a tunnel buried under mud and debris in Nepal on Friday - nine days after a glacial collapse devastated the Himalayan nation.
The men were trapped inside the Trishuli 3A hydropower tunnel in Rasuwa district when a wall of mud swept through on August 26. The disaster was triggered by a glacial and rock collapse on the China-Nepal border that has killed at least 1,325 people and left over 5,500 missing, destroying at least 12 hydropower projects.
A video released by the Energy Ministry showed rescuers cheering as one man was pulled through a muddy opening. He was helped to his feet and carried on the backs of emergency workers rushing him to a helicopter. Another photo showed the second man, caked in mud, hands pressed together in prayer as rescuers carried him on a stretcher.
Rescued worker Sanjay Sah, 30, told Nepali media he survived by faith. "What day is today? I was chanting maha mantra inside," he said, adding he believes more may be alive. "There were as many as 40 or 45 people... I told them and everyone to run out."
Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha said, "As long as there is breath, there is hope! Rescue operations are continuing in all the affected tunnels."
Both men are stable in a Kathmandu hospital. "He can talk, he is okay," said Hira Shobha Maharjan, wife of co-rescued worker Kabir Maharjan. The government had initially feared over 100 workers were trapped. Nepali Army, aided by experts from India, China and South Korea, had been breaking hard-packed debris for days. Until Friday, no one had been found alive.