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.
asserted
floods → pull → them
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’s floods, according to the army spokesperson Brig Gen Raja Ram Basnet.
uncertain
workers → rescue → spokesperson
Sanjay Shah, a foreman, was the first to be rescued and was taken to the army barracks in Trishuli.
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Shah → rescue → Trishuli
Another person, identified as Kabir Maharjan, a project supervisor, was also pulled from the tunnel.
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person → identify → tunnel
They were recovered from a depth of 170 metres (558ft) inside the tunnel, Basnet said.
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Basnet → recover → tunnel
A senior police official confirmed that a body had also been found during the rescue operation, which has yet to be identified.
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which → confirm → operation
By Friday afternoon, police confirmed they had halted the search as they had found no more signs of life.
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they → confirm → life
Nepal’s army released images of Shah being pulled from the small dark entrance of a tunnel.
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Shah → release → tunnel
He emerged covered in mud but conscious and was carried from the site on a rescuer’s shoulder.
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He → emerge → shoulder
Speaking to army officials after he was rescued, Shah’s first question was: “What day is it?”
Shah said he had been in the tunnel’s control room at the time of the flood, alongside about 40 to 45 others.
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he → speak → others
“Since I was in the control room, my responsibility was to save everyone’s lives,” he said.
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he → save → lives
“After such an accident, I couldn’t just run away by myself.
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I → run → myself
I had to save everyone.”
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I → have → everyone
He said that after realising there had been a major accident, he raced through the tunnel telling people to run and save themselves.
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he → say → themselves
“In doing so, I lost time.
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I → do → time
In the end, I couldn’t get out myself,” he said.
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he → get → end
To keep himself calm in the darkness of the tunnel, Shah said he spent his time chanting mantras.
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he → keep → mantras
He said that while trapped, he had heard the voices of three or four others.
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he → say → others
“We were communicating by shouting to each other from nearby.
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We → communicate → other
Some of them may not have been able to escape,” he said.
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he → escape → them
Officials said the two men had been flown to a hospital in Kathmandu.
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men → say → Kathmandu
Shah was said to be stable but Maharjan was in a critical condition and had been transferred to intensive care.
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Maharjan → say → care
Hirashova Maharjan, Kabir’s wife, said he had been in shock at first and was not talking, but had since said “a few words”.
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he → say → words
She said he had an injury to his leg and was extremely jaundiced.
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he → say → leg
“He did not even recognise me initially.
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He → recognise → me
He only said: ‘Where am I?
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I → say → ?
What happened to me?’
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What → happen → me
He did not say anything else,” she said.
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she → say → anything
He said he wanted some water, so I gave him water.
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I → say → water
Then I asked him if he recognised me, and he said yes.
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he → ask → me
He nodded his head.”
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He → nod → head
“We had almost lost hope,” she said, adding that when she saw the photos of him being pulled from the tunnel, “I was so happy that I cried.”
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I → lose → tunnel
Most of the hydropower projects along the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers were destroyed when a surge of water, debris and mud came coursing down the valley last week, triggered by the collapse of a melting glacier on the border between Nepal and China-controlled Tibet.
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surge → destroy → Nepal
At least 1,287 people were killed in the floods and more than 5,000 remain missing, according to Nepal’s disaster management agency.
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5,000 → kill → agency
Rescue efforts have increasingly centred on the hydropower tunnels, where authorities believe workers may have survived for more than a week in air pockets.
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workers → centre → pockets
So far, more than 270 people have been rescued across several projects.
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people → rescue → projects
Large boulders and flood waters had deluged the hydropower tunnels, blocking off the entrances, and some were buried deep in mud.
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some → deluge → mud
At the Upper Trishuli 3A facility, it took rescue workers almost six days to find the tunnels.
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it → take → tunnels
Speaking over the phone from the rescue site, Amrit Thapa, deputy superintendent of the armed police force, who is part of the seven-person search and rescue team, said they had managed to crawl the length of the tunnel looking for survivors.
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they → speak → survivors
They were accompanied by a team from the Nepal army.
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They → accompany → army
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
