Kathmandu : Ten days after devastating flash floods in Nepal trapped several workers inside a hydropower project tunnel, and just as hopes of finding survivors were starting to fade, two workers were miraculously rescued on Friday. Over 1,250 people have died after a flash flood swept through parts of the Nepal-Tibet border last week. Over 900 people are feared trapped along 12 different hydropower projects along the Trishuli River.
Dramatic footage from the rescue site showed Nepali army personnel bringing out the survivors covered in mud and slush. When Sanjay was eventually pulled out, a look of relief appeared on his face. “You have been given a second life,” the rescue team told him. For Sanjay, the 10-day ordeal was about holding on to hope. He was in charge of the control room at the hydropower project when the flash floods struck.
“I was responsible for the control room, so the responsibility of saving everyone was also on me,” Sanjay, a resident of Nepal’s Saptari, told the rescue team. When the disaster struck, Sanjay said he directed people towards safer areas. In the process, however, he himself got trapped. According to reports, the two workers were trapped at about 170 metres inside the tunnel.
“The tunnel is very long. Some people may be trapped inside because of the force of the water,” he said. For Hira Shobha, it was a deeply emotional moment when her husband, Kabir, was pulled out on a stretcher on Friday. “He has returned with a second life. We are extremely happy,” she told Kathmandu Post. However, beneath the tears of happiness lay the extreme pain the Maharjan family underwent in those 10 days.
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