A Chinese national rescued in Nepal was pulled alive from a hydropower tunnel on Saturday, 10 days after catastrophic flooding swept across the region. Rescue teams found him buried deep inside the tunnel in Rasuwa district.
A joint team from the Nepal Army and foreign experts rescued the man from 225 metres inside the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project tunnel. The Nepal Army said the survivor was identified as Luhaitao.
A photograph released by the army showed Luhaitao being carried out by two rescuers. He appeared alert, although his hands were covered in thick mud. Officials said medical teams were assessing his condition after the rescue.
The survivor was among hundreds of hydropower workers who went missing after a huge wave of water and mud swept through the China-Nepal border on August 26. The disaster followed a major glacial and rock collapse.
The Chinese national rescued in Nepal was found as teams continued searches at several damaged hydropower sites. Two Nepali workers were also rescued alive from the Trishuli 3A tunnel on Friday, nine days after the flooding.
Nepal’s national disaster agency said 1,344 bodies had been recovered, while around 5,000 people remained missing. In China, state media reported 31 deaths and 531 missing people, taking the combined death toll to 1,375.
Rescue teams from India, China, Australia and South Korea have joined Nepali authorities in the search. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 bodies have been buried in mass graves after DNA samples were collected, while thousands of displaced people remain in relief camps.
