Worker rescued from Nepal hydropower tunnel after nine days

A 30-year-old worker rescued from a tunnel at Nepal's Trishuli 3A hydropower project after nine days said he kept chanting the ‘Hare Krishna’ mantra while trapped, hoping that he would eventually be saved. Sanjay Sah was among two workers rescued alive on Friday, coinciding with Krishna Janmashtami, the Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Lord Krishna. “I was chanting Hare Krishna mahamantra for the past nine days,” Sah told security personnel shortly after he was brought out safely. Video released by the Nepali Army displayed Sah being carried on a worker's back, with his face covered in mud.

Sah, an employee of the Nepal Electricity Authority and a foreman from Saptari district in Madhesh province, said he had been working in the control room when the disaster struck. He said he initially stayed behind because he felt responsible for the safety of others. “I was working in the control room. My responsibility was to save everyone’s life,” Sah said. According to Reuters, Sah said he warned others to flee after receiving word of the disaster upstream. By the time he turned to escape himself, there was no time left. For nine days, he remained trapped in darkness inside the tunnel. He said he had managed to communicate with three or four other workers nearby, either by talking or making noises. “There were only three or four people with whom we were able to communicate, nearby, by talking or making noises,” he said. Sah added that more people could still be trapped deeper inside the tunnel, including around 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.

The other worker rescued was Kabir Maharjan, 45, a mechanical supervisor at the project. Maharjan was airlifted to Nepal Army Hospital in Chhauni, Kathmandu, for further treatment due to health complications. Sah was taken to a local hospital in Trishuli. Security sources said his condition was stable. Sah and Maharjan were the first workers rescued from the hydropower projects since the disaster, although a small group had managed to escape from another tunnel hours after it struck. The Nepal Army-led security command has continued search and rescue operations using specialised equipment. Officials believe at least 900 people remain trapped in tunnels linked to six hydropower projects along the Trishuli River. As per Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal, more than 600 people working at 11 hydropower projects remain missing. The flash floods, triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal. At least 1,287 people have been killed in Nepal as houses, streets, and schools in towns and villages near the border with Tibet, China, were swept away. Currently, 5,083 people are reported missing, and thousands more have been displaced. In Tibet, China has reported a death toll of 21, with 541 others listed as missing.