Nepal rescuers pull two workers from flooded tunnel

Rescuers in Nepal pulled two workers alive from a hydropower tunnel Friday, nine days after floods tore through the region and left hundreds of hydropower workers missing, officials said.

The men were brought out of the Trishuli 3A tunnel along the Trishuli River as emergency crews continued trying to reach others believed to be trapped inside. The floods, which struck Nepal on Aug. 26 and were likely caused by a glacier collapse, devastated towns and swept away villages.

Army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet confirmed the first worker’s rescue, and Nepalese lawmaker Shri Ram Neupane later posted on Facebook about the second. Officials identified the rescued men as a mechanical foreman and a mechanical supervisor.

Neupane said rescuers first heard voices from inside the tunnel Friday morning, confirming that people were alive and helping crews locate the two men. Local television channels showed the first rescued worker covered in mud and being carried from the site on a rescuer’s shoulder.

Officials said both men were in stable condition and were flown to a hospital in Kathmandu.

“I can’t explain what we are feeling at the moment. We are just grateful to god,” Amir Maharjan, the brother of rescued worker Kabir Maharjan, told The Associated Press. He said the family was on its way to the hospital to see him.

Kabir Maharjan’s wife, Hirashova, told CBS News partner network BBC News that the family had spent days in fear. “We couldn’t properly eat or drink for 10 days. We were very scared. Now we are all happy. We are even crying,” she said.

At least 557 workers are missing from the Trishuli 3A hydropower project, according to the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal. About 115 of them are believed to be trapped in the main tunnel.

Officials at the rescue site said teams believe some people may still be alive inside the tunnel. Nepal’s Communication Minister Bikram Timilsina said officials remain hopeful.

“We are waiting for the rescue of more and more people,” Timilsina wrote on Facebook.

The Trishuli 3A project is one of several hydropower sites affected by the disaster. Local authorities said about 900 workers are missing from 12 hydropower projects in Nepal, with roughly 500 believed to be trapped in tunnels.

The wider toll from the flooding continues to rise. At least 1,259 people were killed in Nepal and more than 5,000 remain missing, according to the country’s disaster management agency. China said as of late Wednesday that 21 people were killed and 541 were missing on the Tibet side of the border.

Rescue crews remained at the Trishuli site Friday, where the discovery of voices inside the tunnel raised hopes that more survivors could still be reached after more than a week underground.