Emergency teams in Nepal have successfully rescued two workers trapped inside a power station tunnel for nine days following catastrophic floods that engulfed the Trishuli Valley, burying facilities and villages beneath a deluge of mud and rocks.
The Associated Press reported that Nepalese Army spokesman Rajaram Basnet confirmed the workers were extricated during an ongoing rescue operation within a hydroelectric project tunnel.
Local television channels captured the dramatic moment as one survivor, covered in mud, was carried on the shoulder of a rescuer out of the site.
Basnet added that a medical team immediately began examining the workers upon their rescue, although no details were provided about their identities or health conditions.
Earlier, Reuters reported MP Shree Ram Neupan’s confirmation of the first worker's rescue, while efforts continued to reach and extract the second individual from the tunnel.
This successful rescue came after days of dwindling hope for finding survivors within the water-logged or blocked tunnels filled with rocks and mud.
According to Reuters, it took rescue teams nearly six days to access the tunnel's entrance after it was blocked by debris, during which they worked tirelessly to drain water, remove rocks, and pump oxygen into potential air pockets inside the facility.