Survival against the odds: Chinese national, woman rescued alive 10 days after Nepal floods
Kathmandu: Two more people were rescued alive in Nepal on Saturday, 10 days after devastating floods and landslides swept through parts of the country, raising fresh hopes for survivors as rescue teams continue searching for thousands of people still missing.
A Chinese national was pulled alive from a debris-filled hydropower tunnel in Rasuwa district, while a 60-year-old woman was rescued from a house buried under debris in Nuwakot.
Chinese national rescued from hydropower tunnel
The Chinese national, identified as Luhaitao, was rescued from about 225 metres inside a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Rasuwa.
A joint team of the Nepal Army and foreign rescue experts brought him out alive from the tunnel, according to the army. His health was being assessed after the rescue, while search operations continued at the site.
Images released by the Nepal Army showed Luhaitao being carried out by rescuers, with mud covering his hands. He was later evacuated by helicopter.
His rescue brings to three the number of hydropower workers pulled alive from the affected Trishuli projects. Two Nepalese workers, Kabir Maharjan and Sanjay Sah, were rescued from a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydropower plant on Friday, nine days after the floods.
Woman rescued from debris-buried house
In another rescue, 60-year-old Chandika Shrestha was pulled alive from the upper floor of a four-storey house buried under debris in Betrawati, Nuwakot district.
Shrestha was reportedly found unconscious inside the house in Bidur Municipality-10. A nine-member Armed Police Force team rescued her and took her by helicopter to the Nepali Army's Maithili Barracks in Trishuli for initial treatment.
She may be brought to Kathmandu for further medical care if required, according to the Nepal Prime Minister's Office.
Images released by the Nepal Army showed rescuers finding Shrestha covered in mud. She was given water and wrapped in a grey blanket before being taken to safety.
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Around 900 hydropower workers still missing
The latest rescues have renewed hopes for hundreds of people believed to be trapped inside hydropower tunnels across flood-hit areas.
Authorities said around 900 workers are missing from 12 hydropower projects, with roughly 500 believed to be trapped inside tunnels.
Rescue teams from Nepal, along with experts from India, China, Australia and South Korea, are continuing operations at several sites using specialised equipment.
Also read | 275 Indians still missing in Nepal floods, 169 rescued: MEA
More than 1,300 killed in floods
The floods were triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26. The resulting wall of water and mud swept through towns and villages, damaging roads, bridges, homes and hydropower projects.
Nepal's disaster management authorities have reported more than 1,300 deaths, while around 5,000 people remain missing.
The disaster also affected neighbouring China, where state media reported 31 deaths and 531 people missing, taking the combined death toll from the disaster to more than 1,375.