Rescue teams in flood-hit Nepal pulled two people alive from the rubble and flooded areas on Saturday, taking the number of recent survivors rescued to four. One of the latest rescues include a Chinese national trapped inside a hydropower tunnel. He was brought out from a 225-metre-long tunnel at the Trishuli hydropower site in an operation involving the Nepalese Army and South Korean disaster response specialists.
The rescue was the third at the site in two days. Two Nepali workers trapped inside a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydropower plant were rescued on Friday. Army photographs showed the Chinese worker being airlifted by helicopter, with a military medic accompanying him. He was taken for medical evaluation after being brought out.
In a separate operation in Nuwakot town, rescuers found a woman alive inside a damaged house. She was carried out wrapped in a grey blanket and was due to be flown to Kathmandu for treatment.
The latest rescues come as authorities continue a large-scale search operation across the flood-affected region. Nearly 900 workers remain unaccounted for at 12 hydropower projects, according to officials. Around 500 are believed to be trapped inside tunnels.
The floods, which struck Nepal on August 26 and are believed to have followed a glacier collapse, have killed at least 1,300 people, while more than 5,000 remain missing, according to the country’s disaster management agency. Rescue teams are continuing operations at affected hydropower sites and other areas as authorities search for survivors.
