Two workers rescued alive from tunnel in Nepal 10 days after flash floods

KATHMANDU: Two men have been rescued alive from a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydropower project 10 days after the Bhotekohi flash floods disaster.

They have been identified as Kabir Maharjan, 45, and Sanjay Sah, 30.

Maharjan was working as a mechanical supervisor on the project, while Shah was a foreman, according to the Public Relations Directorate of the Nepal Army.

The Nepal Army-led security command has been engaged in the search and rescue operation using specialised equipment.

The rescue followed an earlier breakthrough in which rescuers heard voices from inside the tunnel and established communication with people believed to be trapped there, the Kathmandu Post newspaper reported.

The Nepali Army and Armed Police Force intensified efforts to reach them after the voices were heard.

The death toll in Nepal due to the flash floods rose to 1,282 on Friday.

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, leaving a trail of destruction.

So far, 359 bodies have been recovered in Chitwan, 218 in Nawalparasi East, 208 in Nawalparasi West, 185 in Nuwakot, 72 in Gorkha, 60 in Dhading, 140 in Rasuwa and 38 in Tanahu, according to Nepal Police.

With two people dying while undergoing treatment in two hospitals in Kathmandu, the death toll has reached 1,282.