Two trapped tunnel workers rescued in Nepal 'miracle'

Two hydropower workers were pulled alive from a tunnel buried by debris in Nepal on Friday, nine days after catastrophic Himalayan flooding trapped them underground. Rescuers freed the pair from the Trishuli 3A tunnel, calling it a miracle. The rescue offered rare hope as the death toll from the August 26 glacial collapse passed 1,300.

How were the two trapped workers rescued in Nepal?

Rescuers pulled two trapped hydropower workers alive from the Trishuli 3A tunnel in Nepal on Friday, nine days after a glacial collapse buried the site in mud. A video showed one man raised his hand as rescuers carried him toward a helicopter. Both men were reported in stable condition at a Kathmandu hospital.

Rescuers cheered as one man was pulled through a muddy opening, according to a video released by Nepal's energy ministry. He was helped to his feet before being carried on the backs of emergency workers, raising his hand as they rushed him toward a helicopter. A photograph showed the second man caked in mud, his hands pressed together in prayer, as rescuers carried him on a stretcher.

"As long as there is breath, there is hope," Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha said in a statement. He added that rescue operations were continuing across all affected tunnels and urged people to keep up their efforts and prayers. "We have not lost hope," he said.

How did rescuers reach the men trapped in the tunnel?

Australian rescue expert Arnold Dix, who has been advising the operation, told AFP the effort was back in miracle country after a week of round-the-clock heartache. Teams at the Trishuli 3A hydropower project heard a faint response from inside the tunnel earlier on Friday. "They believe they received a faint response from inside saying, hunchha, yes or OK," said Dix, president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association.

Rescuers called into the tunnel to reassure the trapped men that help was on the way. Dix said teams had dug through 50 to 60 meters, or roughly 164 to 197 feet, of debris blocking the tunnel and had been hoping for a breakthrough at any moment. Less than an hour later, rescuers pulled the two men to safety.

The rescued pair were among hundreds of hydropower workers who had gone missing after a wall of mud and debris swept through the region following a glacial and rock collapse on the China-Nepal border. Searches continued at the Trishuli 3A tunnel and multiple other sites, with at least 12 hydropower projects damaged by the floods. Extra soldiers were sent on Friday to boost the search operation, which pulled out three more bodies that day.

Who are the workers rescued from the Nepal tunnel?

Rescued worker Sanjay Sah, 30, said he survived by praying during his days trapped in the dark, speaking on a video broadcast on Nepali media shortly after his rescue. "What day is today? I was chanting maha mantra inside," he said, referring to Hindu prayers. He added that he believed more workers may still be in the tunnel, and that he had urged as many as 40 or 45 people to run when the disaster struck.

Kabir Maharjan, 45, was the second worker rescued, and his brother Amir Maharjan told AFP his heart felt lighter. Maharjan's wife, Hira Shobha Maharjan, said he could talk and had recognised her, though an injured leg and the cold had made it hard for him to move his hands. His sister-in-law, Lakshmi Naini, waited outside the Kathmandu hospital where he was taken by helicopter, calling his survival a miracle she heard about through social media.

What caused Nepal's deadly floods and how many people are missing?

Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal described the wave triggered by the rock and ice avalanche as a Himalayan tsunami. Floods tore through mountain districts that day, destroying roads, bridges and multiple hydropower dams, and communities near the epicenter remain cut off. Some Nepali families searching for missing loved ones had already begun holding symbolic funerals in recent days.

The United Nations has warned that the scale of the destruction makes delivering aid an immense challenge, with cargo drones and porters being considered to reach isolated communities. "Families have lost everything," UN Nepal chief Lila Pieters Yahia said Friday, launching a 50 million dollar appeal to help more than 84,000 people. Nepal's disaster authority said 1,287 bodies had been recovered, with 5,083 people still missing.

In China, state media reported 21 people killed and 541 missing on the other side of the border. That brings the overall death toll to 1,308 people, with 5,624 missing across both countries. More than 800 foreigners from at least 34 countries are among those still unaccounted for.