Rescuers save Chinese man and Nepali woman as flood death toll rises in Nepal

Emergency responders have rescued a Chinese man and a Nepali woman in two separate operations as authorities continued to search for thousands of people missing 10 days after massive floods hit Nepal.

The Nepali military said on Saturday a joint team comprising personnel from its army and South Korean disaster experts rescued the man from a 225-metre (740ft) tunnel in the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project, and that he was undergoing a health assessment. Pictures showed him being evacuated by helicopter after being carried out of the tunnel.

Rescue efforts have focused on a dozen hydropower projects across Nepal, where about 900 workers are missing, 500 of whom are thought to be trapped in huge tunnels. International rescue teams from India, China, South Korea and the US have been searching through debris and damaged structures at the projects to try to find survivors.

Two Nepali workers were rescued from another tunnel in a hydro-station on the Trishuli River on Friday.

Experts have said the possibility of finding missing people alive in the tunnels is diminishing.

The Nepali woman, 64, was rescued from a damaged house in the devastated town of Nuwakot. Photos published by the Nepali army showed rescuers discovering the woman submerged in mud before she was pulled to safety and airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment.

Members of Nepal’s police force cheered as she was pulled from the home, the lower half of which was buried in thick sludge.

Emergency responders have been working to find survivors from the devastating floods in Nepal, which were triggered by a glacial and rock collapse on 26 August. Their work has been complicated by the massive infrastructural damage caused by the floods, with more than 40 bridges having collapsed and rivers swelling unpredictably.

At least 1,375 people have been killed in the floods, with more than 5,000 missing, according to Nepal’s disaster management agency.