Archive · 5 Sep 2026
Two Men Rescued After Nine Days in Nepal Tunnel
Two workers in Nepal were trapped inside a long hydropower tunnel after a powerful flash flood.
Rescue teams found and saved them nine days later.
One worker, Kabir Maharjan, was in critical condition and was taken to a hospital in Kathmandu.
The other worker, Sanjay Sah, was treated at a hospital in Nuwakot.
Sah said he stayed behind because he wanted to help other workers get away safely.
He spent the nine days saying a religious mantra and waiting for help.
He said rescuers may still need to search deeper parts of the tunnel for other people.
The flood was caused by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border.
Many people remain missing, and Nepal’s reported death toll reached 1,282.
Kabir Maharjan, 45, and Sanjay Sah, 30, were rescued from a Trishuli 3A hydropower tunnel after nine days.
Maharjan was flown to Nepal Army Hospital in Kathmandu in critical condition, while Sah was treated at Trishuli Hospital in Nuwakot.
Sah said he stayed behind to help others escape and recited the “Hare Krishna” mantra while awaiting rescue.
Sah warned that additional people could remain trapped deeper inside the long tunnel, including near the powerhouse.
More than 600 hydropower workers remain missing at 11 projects, while Nepal’s flood death toll reached 1,282 and more than 4,700 people remained missing.
- Who
- Hydropower workers Kabir Maharjan and Sanjay Sah were rescued by a Nepal Army-led security command.
- What
- The two men were rescued alive after being trapped for nine days inside a hydropower tunnel.
- When
- They were rescued on Friday, nine days after flash floods struck; the floods began on August 26.
- Where
- The rescue took place at the Trishuli 3A hydropower project in central Nepal; the men were taken to hospitals in Kathmandu and Nuwakot.
- Why
- They became trapped when flash floods, triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border, swept through the Trishuli River corridor.
- Rescue site
- Trishuli 3A hydropower project tunnel
- Time trapped
- Nine days
- Survivors
- Kabir Maharjan, 45, and Sanjay Sah, 30
- Medical conditions
- Maharjan was described as critical; Sah was receiving treatment
- Missing hydropower workers
- More than 600 workers at 11 projects
- National disaster toll
- 1,282 deaths and more than 4,700 people missing
- Government clarification
- Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal said Nepal had not requested greenhouse-gas-emissions compensation from India or another country.
