Two Men Rescued From Debris Give Hope After Nepal Flood

Two men pulled alive from a hydropower tunnel buried by debris give fresh hope that others trapped after last week's flash flood might still be found. Search teams rescued Sanjay Shah, 30, and Kabir Maharjan, 45, early Friday morning at the Trishuli 3A construction site. The event happened nine days after a catastrophic cascade triggered by a partial glacier collapse killed more than 1,200 people and swept water, rock, and mud through Himalayan valleys.

Footage from Nepal's Ministry of Energy showed a man emerging through a small muddy opening while rescuers cheered. He stood up with their help, waved toward a helicopter, then was carried away on the backs of emergency workers. A second survivor pressed his hands together in prayer as he left on a stretcher. The pair are the first rescued from any hydropower station or project linked to this disaster.

Nepal's minister of home affairs, Sudan Gurung, identified the men. "I am so happy, my heart is lighter," Amir Maharjan said about his brother Kabir. The Nepali Army confirmed both were receiving medical care and would be moved to a hospital in Kathmandu while search and rescue operations continue. One survivor told rescuers more people remain alive inside the main tunnel. At least 557 workers are missing from the Trishuli 3A project, with about 115 believed trapped in that same tunnel.

Officials say they still expect to save more. Communication Minister Bikram Timilsina posted on social media: "We are waiting for the rescue of more and more people." This follows a disaster on August 26 that left more than 5,000 people missing across Nepal and Chinese-controlled Tibet. At least 1,287 deaths have been confirmed in Nepal, with tens of thousands displaced. China reported 21 killed and 541 missing on its side of the border.

Nepal has largely refused international aid, yet Australia sent a team of drone specialists to help Friday. The 15-member group includes state emergency operatives joining local efforts at the government's request. Thirty-six Australian citizens remain missing in the region. Jeremy Fewtrell, commissioner of Fire and Rescue New South Wales, told reporters at Sydney Airport: "We are still holding out hope that people might still be surviving in some sort of locations and hopefully this team can help locate any of those people."

Symbolic funerals have been held for victims while search teams keep working through the wreckage. The rescue of these two men offers a lifeline to hundreds who could still be alive under tons of mud and stone.