WEBDESK - NAYADAUR
Rescuers in Nepal pulled a Chinese national alive from a buried tunnel Saturday, 10 days after catastrophic flooding and mudslides struck the country’s northern Rasuwa district.
The man, identified by the Nepal Army as Luhaitao, was rescued from about 225 meters inside a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project, according to a military statement.
A joint rescue team involving Nepal Army personnel and foreign experts reached the survivor after digging through debris blocking the tunnel. Images released by the Nepal Army showed Luhaitao being carried out by rescuers, with his arms around the shoulders of two soldiers. His hands were covered in thick mud, but he appeared alert.
“His health is currently being assessed, and further search and rescue operations are continuing,” the Nepal Army said.
Luhaitao was among hundreds of hydropower workers who went missing after a tsunami-like surge of water and mud swept across the China-Nepal border on Aug. 26. The disaster followed a massive glacial and rock collapse that triggered devastating floods and mudslides.
The latest rescue comes just one day after two Nepali hydropower workers were pulled alive from another tunnel at the Trishuli 3A project. They had survived for nine days after becoming trapped by the disaster and were taken to hospital in stable condition.
The successive rescues have raised hopes that other missing workers could still be found alive inside blocked tunnels.
Nepal’s authorities initially estimated that more than 100 workers could potentially remain alive inside several tunnels. Rescue teams, assisted by experts from India, China, Australia and South Korea, are continuing operations at multiple sites.
The scale of the disaster remains enormous. At least 12 hydropower projects were destroyed by the floods, while Nepal’s national disaster agency reported that 1,344 bodies had been recovered and about 5,000 people remained missing.
Across the border in China, state media reported 31 deaths and 531 missing people, bringing the reported overall death toll across the two countries to 1,375, with more than 5,500 people missing.
As rescue operations continue, authorities are also struggling to manage the humanitarian consequences. Nepal Police said morgues had become overcrowded, with around 1,030 bodies buried in mass graves after DNA samples were collected for future identification.
Thousands of displaced people remain in temporary relief camps. Prime Minister Balendra Shah has promised safe and comfortable accommodation for those affected, acknowledging the difficult conditions facing survivors.
The discovery of Luhaitao alive after 10 days has nevertheless provided a rare moment of hope amid one of the region’s worst recent disasters.
For rescue teams still working through collapsed tunnels and debris, the message from the latest breakthrough is clear: even after 10 days, the search for survivors is not over.