Kathmandu:

At least two people have been pulled alive from a hydropower project tunnel in Trishuli nine days after a flash flood tore through Nepal, raising hopes that others could still be trapped inside. Local television news channels aired images of mud-covered workers being carried from the Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project on a rescuer’s shoulder.

Nepal lawmaker Sri Ram Neupane also posted the images from the rescue operation on his Facebook shortly after army spokesperson Brigadier General Raja Ram Basnet confirmed the rescues.

About 900 workers are missing from 12 hydropower projects in Nepal, with roughly 500 believed to be trapped in tunnels, according to local authorities.

The rescue came nine days after the August 26 floods, likely caused by a glacier collapse, that devastated towns and valleys in Nepal.

The two people who have been rescued are identified as Kabir Maharjan and Sanjay Shah. Shah is a mechanical foreman with the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), while Maharjan is a supervisor at the Trishuli-3 ‘A’ Hydropower Project.

Local reports claimed that voices of more people were heard from the tunnels as rescue efforts continued at the Trishul 3A tunnel.

Meanwhile, rescue operations are also taking place at half a dozen other hydropower tunnels in which more than 150 people are feared to be trapped.

About 900 workers are missing from 12 hydropower projects in Nepal, with roughly 500 believed to be trapped in tunnels, according to local authorities.

Engineers have been pumping air into these tunnels as part of the huge rescue operation.

At least 1,259 people were killed and more than 5,000 remain missing, according to the country’s disaster management agency. China, as of late Wednesday, said 21 people were killed and 541 were missing on the Tibet side of the border.