Rescuers in Nepal pull 2 people alive from the debris 10 days after devastating floods
-
Click here to listen to this article - Share via
- Ten days after catastrophic floods, rescuers in Nepal pulled a Chinese worker and a woman alive from debris in separate incidents.
- The Chinese man was the third worker rescued from the Trishuli hydropower project’s mud-choked tunnels.
- Across 12 damaged hydropower sites, about 900 workers are missing and 500 feared trapped, part of a disaster that has killed at least 1,300 people with thousands unaccounted for.
KATHMANDU, Nepal — Rescuers in Nepal pulled out a Chinese man and a woman in separate operations Saturday, 10 days after devastating floods hit the country, as teams continued searching for thousands of missing people.
The man was rescued from a hydropower tunnel, according to a social media post by the country’s prime minister’s office, bringing the total to three workers pulled alive from the Trishuli hydropower project. Two Nepalese workers were rescued on Friday.
Nepal’s army said a joint rescue team of Nepalese military personnel and South Korean disaster experts rescued the man from a 740-foot tunnel and he was undergoing a health assessment. Images showed him being evacuated by helicopter, with an army medic checking on him during the flight.
A photo released by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed two rescuers carrying the man out of the tunnel.
CCTV shared audio of the man talking to an officer, saying how he repeatedly shouted whenever he saw the rescue crews’ lights, but they could not hear him.
“When they rescued me today, when they shone [the light] before my eyes, I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
The man was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition, according to CCTV.
Rescue efforts have increasingly focused on 12 hydropower projects across Nepal, where about 900 workers are missing and roughly 500 are believed to be trapped in various tunnels, authorities said. Specialized rescue teams from India, China, South Korea and the United States have been searching through debris, damaged structures and tunnels at the projects, hoping to find survivors.
In flood-hit Nuwakot town, a woman was rescued alive from a house, Nepal’s army spokesperson said Saturday. Officials said she was airlifted to Kathmandu, the capital, for treatment.
Images released by Nepal’s army showed rescuers finding the woman covered in mud inside the damaged house. They gave her bottled water before pulling her to safety, wrapped in a gray blanket.
At least 1,300 people were killed in the Aug. 26 floods, which were probably caused by a glacier collapse, and more than 5,000 remain missing, according to Nepal’s disaster management agency.
Kafle and Saaliq write for the Associated Press. Saaliq reported from New Delhi. AP journalist Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
In our first episode, the L.A. Times columnist George Skelton sizes up the governors he’s known, what made them successful and whether the next one can measure up.
On screen, Errol Flynn played a series of daredevils, fortune hunters, and suave romantics. Off screen, he lived a life of outsize debauchery and recklessness, including a persistent interest in underage girls. In 1943, at the height of his fame, he faced trial in Los Angeles on charges of statutory rape.
Why would someone decide to risk their life for a country that is not their own? What might they be searching for? Call Sign Condor is a podcast about the thousands of Latin American soldiers who are fighting in Ukraine — for Ukraine.
