Two hydropower workers in Nepal were rescued on Friday after being trapped inside tunnels buried under debris during catastrophic floods more than a week ago, government ministers said. Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha confirmed that one worker was safely rescued from a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydropower project. A second worker was rescued shortly afterwards.
“We have just received news that another person…has also been rescued,” Home Minister Sudan Gurung said in a statement.
The rescued workers have been identified as Kabir Maharjan, 45, and Sanjay Sah, 30.
According to the Public Relations Directorate of the Nepal Army, Maharjan was working as a mechanical supervisor at the project, while Sah was employed as a foreman.
More voices heard in buried tunnel
A Nepal Army-led joint security command has been carrying out search and rescue operations using specialised equipment to locate and rescue those trapped inside the tunnel.
The rescue operation gained momentum after rescuers heard voices from inside the tunnel and managed to establish communication with people believed to be trapped there, The Kathmandu Post reported.
Following the breakthrough, personnel from the Nepal Army and Armed Police Force intensified their efforts to reach the trapped workers, eventually leading to their rescue.
Nepal flash flood toll crosses 1,200
Around 600 children remain unaccounted for in Nepalโs Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts following the devastating flash floods, as the death toll from the disaster rose to 1,282 on Friday. More than 4,700 people are still reported missing.
The flash floods, triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, caused widespread destruction across towns and villages in northern and central Nepal.
According to Nepal Police, 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. Two more people died while undergoing treatment at hospitals in Kathmandu, taking the overall death toll to 1,282.
The joint command of Nepalโs security forces is continuing search operations for 4,798 people reported missing from various affected areas.
Hundreds of children missing
An estimated 280 children are missing in Rasuwa, while between 300 and 350 children remain unaccounted for in neighbouring Nuwakot, The Kathmandu Post reported, citing data compiled by local Education Development and Coordination Units (EDCUs), local governments and educational institutions.
Surya Bahadur Khatri, head of the Nuwakot Education Development and Coordination Unit, said authorities were working with school heads to verify the number of missing students.
“We are actively liaising with headmasters to collect verified data on missing students, though school heads are struggling to provide exact figures due to broken communications.”
“Although a few missing students have been located, new reports of unaccounted-for children continue to arrive from various schools. We estimate that at least 300 pupils are missing in our district.”
In Bidur Municipality alone, around 250 children have been reported missing since the floods, according to Navaraj Sapkota, a school inspector with the municipalityโs education unit.
“The situation on the ground is deeply distressing. In some cases, we have located surviving parents who cannot find their children, while in other instances, surviving students are searching for missing parents,” Sapkota said.
Bidur Municipality has 170 educational institutions, including 142 community schools and 28 private schools.
In Rasuwa, Durga Prasad Silwal, chief of the local education unit, said official verification was still underway, but preliminary records indicated that around 280 students remained missing across the district.
The disaster has also affected teachers and school staff. Education authorities said 22 teachers and school staff members remain missing across Rasuwa and Nuwakot.
Several teachers from Dhading and Gorkha who had travelled to Rasuwa on pilgrimage were also caught in the floods and remain unaccounted for.
Rasuwa has reported 16 missing teachers โ 15 from community schools and one from a private institution โ while Nuwakot has confirmed six missing teachers, according to The Kathmandu Post.
With inputs AFP
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