Rescues in Nepal give rare glimmer of hope as flood death toll passes 1,300
KATHMANDU — Two dramatic rescues in Nepal on Saturday reignited hopes that more survivors could still be found beneath the wreckage left by catastrophic flooding that struck the Himalayan nation 10 days ago. A Chinese national was pulled from the deep tunnel of a hydropower project in Rasuwa district, while a 64-year-old local woman was found alive inside her partially buried home in Nuwakot, nearly a week and a half after the disaster.
The Chinese man, identified only as Luhaitao, was rescued from about 225 meters (738 feet) inside a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project, according to a statement from the Nepali Army. A photograph released on the army’s official Facebook page showed him steady on his feet, arms draped over the shoulders of two soldiers in camouflage uniforms. His hands were covered in thick mud, but he appeared conscious and alert.
“His health is currently being assessed and further search and rescue operations are continuing,” the army said, without disclosing how long the man may have been trapped.
Luhaitao was among hundreds of workers who vanished after a massive glacial and rock collapse on August 26 sent a tsunami-like surge of water and debris surging down the valley along the China-Nepal border. At least a dozen hydropower installations were destroyed or badly damaged in the deluge.
Later in the day, Nepal’s Armed Police Force said its personnel had pulled Chandrika Shrestha, 64, from her home in Nuwakot, a district also badly hit by the floods. Video released by the force showed only the roofline and upper floor of her house protruding from vast banks of brown sludge.
“A police team found her as they were clearing the area. She has been airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment,” deputy superintendent Iqbal Hawari told AFP.
Saturday’s rescues came two days after two Nepali hydropower workers were found alive in another tunnel at the Trishuli 3A project. Both were reported in stable condition at a Kathmandu hospital on Friday. Emergency crews, now backed by teams from India, China, Australia and South Korea, have been racing to search multiple blocked tunnels where officials initially believed more than 100 workers could still be alive.
The successes are all the more striking given the scale of destruction. Nepal’s national disaster agency says 1,344 bodies have been recovered so far, with roughly 5,000 people still unaccounted for. Across the border in China, state media reports at least 31 killed and 531 missing, bringing the combined toll to more than 1,375 dead and over 5,500 missing.
Efforts are also being complicated by geography. In high-altitude areas inaccessible by road, rescuers have turned to drones to deliver medicine, food and other supplies — and, in some cases, to ferry bodies out.
“We have sent a lot of relief material and right now our team is loading some materials for the hospital in the area,” drone operator Avaya Pokharel told AFP in Nuwakot, where crews continued to clear sludge and debris from residential zones.
The United Nations has described the disaster’s “magnitude of destruction” as an immense humanitarian challenge and has launched a $50 million appeal to support more than 84,000 people affected.
With morgues overwhelmed, Nepal Police said Saturday that roughly 1,030 bodies have been buried in mass graves after DNA samples were collected for future identification. The move has stirred anxiety among families still searching for relatives, though officials insist the measure is temporary and necessary under the circumstances.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah, in a social media post Friday, sought to reassure thousands of displaced people living in temporary relief camps. “We know that staying there is not easy for you,” he wrote. “We will once again create an environment where you can dream about and build your future.”
The twin rescues are being seized on by many here as evidence that the operation must not give up. But with 10 days elapsed since the flood, authorities acknowledge the window for finding more survivors is narrowing — even as they vow to keep searching.