Rescuers Pulled Two Men Alive from a Nepal Hydropower Tunnel 9 Days After a Glacier Collapse Killed More Than 1,300 People

05 Sep 2026, 11:21 by Jerome London · Thought Catalog

via REUTERS/Nepal Army

Updated 17 minutes ago, September 5, 2026

One of the two men, a mechanical foreman, told rescuers he stayed behind in a tunnel control room to help others get out. He passed the time trapped underground reciting prayers, and says he was still in contact with three or four people before he was pulled to the surface.

More than 5,000 people are still missing under the ice, rock and mud that tore through Nepal’s Trishuli River valley on August 26, and rescuers now believe at least 900 were trapped in tunnels tied to six hydropower projects.

Soldiers with the Nepal Army conduct a search and rescue operation at a tunnel entrance near hydropower project sites in Rasuwa district on Sept. 2, 2026, days after devastating flash floods and mudslides struck the region. Credit: Nepal Army/Reuters.

Kabir Maharjan and Sanjay Sah are the first workers pulled alive from any of those projects. Video from Nepali authorities showed Maharjan hoisted from a hole in the ground as bystanders cheered, then Sah carried out on a worker’s back, his face still caked in mud, before doctors fitted him with an oxygen mask.

Nepal Army rescuers carry a Chinese survivor to safety from the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project tunnel in Rasuwa on September 5, 2026, days after devastating floods and mudslides struck the region. Photo via REUTERS/Nepal Army.

Sah, a mechanical foreman, said he chose to stay in the control room after warning colleagues to flee. “I was in the control room, so my responsibility was to save everyone’s lives. When there was such a big accident, it was not right for me to run away,” he said in a recording shared by officials.

Heavy machinery works the search and rescue effort at a tunnel entrance near hydropower project sites in Rasuwa district, Nepal, on September 2, 2026, days after flash floods and mudslides devastated the region. Credit: Nepal Army/Reuters.

Both men are now in intensive care at an army hospital in Kathmandu with stable vital signs. Maharjan cannot move his hands or legs, while Sah’s injuries are not considered critical, according to an aide to the energy minister.

Nepal Army soldiers conduct search-and-rescue operations inside a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project in Rasuwa after floods and mudslides struck the Bhotekoshi River, September 4, 2026. Credit: Nepal Army/Reuters.

Rescue teams led by Nepal’s army and police, with experts from India, South Korea and China, are working the site with helicopters, heavy machinery, and a WhatsApp group of specialists guiding the search. Sah told them others could still be alive deeper in the tunnel.

A Nepal Army helicopter assists in search and rescue efforts outside a hydropower tunnel in Rasuwa district on September 2, 2026, following devastating flash floods and mudslides. Photo via REUTERS/Nepal Army.

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