Emergency responders in Nepal rescued a Chinese man and a Nepali woman in separate operations on Saturday, ten days after devastating floods hit the country. The Chinese national, a hydropower worker, was rescued from a 225-metre tunnel in the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project by a joint team of the Nepali military and South Korean disaster experts. He was evacuated by helicopter and is currently undergoing a health assessment. In a separate operation, a woman was pulled alive from her house.
The rescue of the Chinese man marks the third worker pulled alive from the Trishuli hydropower project, following the rescue of two other workers a day prior. Authorities believe up to 900 people may still be stuck inside blocked tunnels. These workers went missing after a tsunami-like wall of water and mud swept through the China-Nepal border on August 26 following a vast glacial and rock collapse.
The August 26 floods, likely caused by a glacier collapse, have killed at least 1,300 people, with reports indicating the death toll has passed 1,331. More than 5,000 people remain missing on both sides of the border. Experts from India, China, Australia, and South Korea are assisting Nepali rescuers in the ongoing search for survivors inside blocked tunnels.