After days of digging through mud, debris and collapsed structures, rescue teams in Nepal made two remarkable rescues on Saturday, taking the total number of recent rescues to four.
A Chinese worker trapped underground and a 64-year-old woman buried inside a damaged home were found alive, surviving against all odds after one of the country’s deadliest disasters.
The latest rescue involved a Chinese national who was pulled alive from a tunnel linked to a hydropower project. The operation marked the third successful rescue at the Trishuli hydropower site after two Nepali workers were brought out alive from a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydropower plant on Friday.
Nepal’s Army said the operation was carried out jointly by Nepalese military personnel and disaster response specialists from South Korea. The worker was rescued from a 225-metre-long tunnel and was undergoing medical evaluation.
Images released by the army showed him being airlifted by helicopter while a military medic attended to him during the journey.
#अपरत्रिशुली१ सुरङबाट विदेशी नागरिकको जीवितै उद्धार#NepaliArmy#BhotekoshiFlood pic.twitter.com/An7wxJJEOh
— Nepali Army (@NepaliArmyHQ) September 5, 2026
Meanwhile, in Nuwakot town, rescuers pulled a 64-year-old woman identified as Chandika Shrestha alive from a damaged house on Saturday.
Officials said she was being airlifted to Kathmandu for medical treatment.
Photographs from the rescue operation showed emergency workers carrying the woman out of the house wrapped in a grey blanket.
सशस्त्र प्रहरी बल नेपाल र अन्य निकाय सहितको सहयोगमा विदुर नगरपालिका १० बेत्रावतीमा रहेको बाढीद्वारा क्षतिग्रस्त घर भित्र पुरिरहेको अवस्थामा अन्दाजी ६० वर्षकी चण्डिका श्रेष्ठ नाम गरेकी महिलालाई करिब १ बजेर ४३ मिनेट जाँदा जीवितै उद्धार गरिएको छ।#APFNepal #peacesecuritycommitment pic.twitter.com/qOzm7YZVFU
— Armed Police Force, Nepal (@APF_Nepal) September 5, 2026
Authorities said nearly 900 workers remain missing across 12 hydropower projects in Nepal, with around 500 believed to be trapped inside different tunnels.
The devastating floods, which struck on August 26 and are believed to have been triggered by a glacier collapse, have killed at least 1,300 people. More than 5,000 others remain missing, according to Nepal’s disaster management agency.
(With inputs grom agencies)
