‘Hare Krishna’ for 9 days: Nepal man rescued from tunnel on Krishna Janmashtami

Kathmandu: “I was chanting Hare Krishna,” said 30-year-old Sanjay Sah shortly after he was pulled to safety from a tunnel in Nepal on Friday, ending a nine-day ordeal on the day millions were celebrating Krishna Janmashtami.

The coincidence was striking for rescuers. Sah, a foreman with the Nepal Electricity Authority, was rescued alive from the Trishuli 3A hydropower project on the festival marking the birth of Lord Krishna.

Trapped for nine days

Sah, a native of Saptari district in Madhesh province, was among two workers rescued alive from the tunnel after a devastating flash flood swept through the Trishuli River corridor in central Nepal on August 26.

The other survivor, 45-year-old mechanical supervisor Kabir Maharjan, was airlifted to the Nepal Army Hospital in Chhauni, Kathmandu, for further treatment. Sah was taken to a hospital in Trishuli, Nuwakot district.

Sah was working in the control room when the flood struck. He said he stayed behind because he felt responsible for the safety of the other workers.

“I was working in the control room. My responsibility was to save everyone’s life,” he said.

Sah said he urged others to run after the accident, but by the time they had escaped, it was too late for him to get out.

‘I was chanting Hare Krishna’

While trapped inside the tunnel, Sah said he remained hopeful that other workers were nearby. He told security personnel that he could hear or communicate with three or four people in the vicinity by speaking or making noises.

Even after being rescued, Sah expressed concern that others could still be trapped deeper inside the long tunnel, including near the powerhouse.

“Not everyone may have been able to escape. The tunnel is very long,” he said, adding that the force of the floodwater could have carried people further inside.

“I was chanting Hare Krishna mahamantra for the past nine days,” Sah said while speaking about his ordeal shortly after being rescued.

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Rescue operation intensified

Sah’s rescue came after Nepal’s security forces intensified operations at the hydropower project using specialised equipment.

Rescuers had earlier reported hearing voices from inside the tunnel and established communication with people believed to be trapped there, according to the Kathmandu Post.

For Maharjan’s family, his rescue after nine days brought immense relief.

“He has returned with a second life. We are extremely happy,” his wife, Hira Shobha, was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post.

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Wider impact of the disaster

The rescue offered a rare moment of hope amid one of Nepal’s worst recent disasters.

According to the Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal, more than 600 people working at 11 hydropower projects remain missing.

More than 1,250 people have died and over 4,700 remain missing following the flash floods, according to the latest figures.

The disaster on August 26 was triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border. It devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal, sweeping away homes, roads, bridges and other infrastructure along the Trishuli River corridor.