Two people have been pulled out alive from a hydropower tunnel in Nepal nine days after deadly flash floods buried the projects in deep mud and left them trapped.<\/p>\n
The workers were rescued during an operation at the Trishuli 3A tunnel, a hydropower project in one of the areas worst affected by last week\u2019s floods, according to the army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet.<\/p>\n
Sanjay Shah, a foreman, was the first to be rescued and was taken to the army barracks in Trishuli. Another person, identified as Kabir Maharjan, a project supervisor, was also pulled from the tunnel. They were recovered from a depth of 170 metres inside the tunnel, Basnet said.<\/p>\n
A senior police official confirmed that a body had also been found during the rescue operation, which has yet to be identified. By Friday afternoon, police confirmed they had halted the search as they had found no more signs of life.<\/p>\n
Nepal\u2019s army released images of Shah being pulled from the small dark entrance of a tunnel. He emerged covered in mud but conscious and was carried from the site on a rescuer\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n
Speaking to army officials after he was rescued, Shah\u2019s first question was: \u201cWhat day is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Shah said he had been in the tunnel\u2019s control room at the time of the flood, alongside about 40 to 45 others. \u201cSince I was in the control room, my responsibility was to save everyone\u2019s lives,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter such an accident, I couldn\u2019t just run away by myself. I had to save everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that after realising there had been a large accident, he raced through the tunnel telling people to run and save themselves. \u201cIn doing so, I lost time. In the end, I couldn\u2019t get out myself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
To keep himself calm in the darkness of the tunnel, Shah said he spent his time chanting mantras. He said that while trapped, he had heard the voices of three or four others.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were communicating by shouting to each other from nearby. There could also be people inside the powerhouse. Some of them may not have been able to escape,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Officials said the two men had been flown to a hospital in Kathmandu. Shah was said to be stable but Maharjan was in a critical condition and had been transferred to intensive care.<\/p>\n
Hirashova Maharjan, Kabir\u2019s wife, said he had been in shock at first and was not talking, but had since said \u201ca few words\u201d. She said he had an injury to his leg and was extremely jaundiced.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had almost lost hope,\u201d she said, adding that when she saw the photos of him being pulled from the tunnel, \u201cI was so happy that I cried.\u201d<\/p>\n