Archive · 5 Sep 2026
Chinese Worker and Woman Rescued Ten Days After Nepal Floods
Severe floods struck Nepal on August 26 after a reported glacier collapse or ice-rock avalanche.
Water, mud, rocks and ice damaged homes, roads, bridges and hydropower projects.
Ten days later, rescuers found a Chinese worker alive inside a long tunnel.
They also found Chandika Shrestha alive inside a damaged house.
Two Nepali hydropower workers had been rescued from a tunnel the day before.
The survivors were taken by helicopter for medical care.
More than 1,300 people have died, and thousands are still missing.
Rescue teams are continuing to search tunnels and piles of debris for more survivors.
A Chinese national identified in reports as Luhaitao was rescued from a 225-meter hydropower tunnel.
Chandika Shrestha was found alive inside a mud-covered, damaged house in Nuwakot.
The rescues occurred 10 days after August 26 floods killed at least 1,300 people.
Two Nepali workers, Sanjay Shah and Kabir Maharjan, were rescued from another tunnel the previous day.
About 900 hydropower workers remain missing, including roughly 500 believed trapped in tunnels.
- Who
- Nepali military and rescue personnel, assisted by South Korean disaster specialists, rescued Luhaitao, Chandika Shrestha, Sanjay Shah and Kabir Maharjan.
- What
- Rescuers found a Chinese hydropower worker and a woman alive 10 days after the floods, following the rescue of two Nepali workers the previous day.
- When
- The two latest rescues took place on Saturday, 10 days after the August 26 floods; the two Nepali workers were rescued on Friday.
- Where
- The rescues occurred at hydropower projects in Nepal’s Trishuli region and at a damaged house in Nuwakot; survivors were taken toward Kathmandu for treatment.
- Why
- Rescue teams were searching for people missing or trapped after floods and debris flows devastated northern and central Nepal.
- Flood date
- August 26
- Tunnel rescue
- Luhaitao was found approximately 225 meters inside a hydropower tunnel.
- Woman rescued
- Chandika Shrestha was found alive inside a damaged house in Nuwakot after 10 days.
- Workers rescued
- Three hydropower workers were pulled alive from Trishuli projects, including two Nepali workers rescued after about nine days.
- Death toll
- Reports gave the death toll as more than 1,300; one report cited at least 1,344 deaths.
- People missing
- More than 4,900 to 5,000 people were reported missing.
- Missing hydropower workers
- About 900 workers from 12 hydropower projects were reported missing, with roughly 500 believed trapped in tunnels.
