KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Rescuers in Nepal pulled two workers alive from a hydroelectric tunnel Friday, raising hopes of reaching a dozen more believed trapped nine days after catastrophic floods devastated cities and leveled villages. The two men were rescued from a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A construction site, where the search for others continues. Nepalese lawmaker Shri Ram Neupane posted about the second rescue on his Facebook page shortly after army spokesman Brig. General Raja Ram Basnet confirmed the rescue of the first trapped worker. Basnet said one of the survivors told rescuers that there were still more people alive inside the tunnel. Officials identified the two men as a mechanical foreman and a mechanical supervisor. Rescuers first heard voices from inside the tunnel on Friday morning, confirming that the people were alive and allowing them to locate the two men, Neupane said. Local television news channels showed images of the first rescued worker covered in mud and being carried from the scene on the shoulders of a rescuer. One of the survivors was in critical condition, according to a statement from the Nepalese prime minister’s office. Both men were airlifted to a hospital in Kathmandu. “I can’t explain what we feel right now. We are just grateful to God,” Amir Maharjan, brother of one of the rescued workers, told The Associated Press. He said the family was on their way to the hospital to see him. At least 557 workers are missing at the Trishuli 3A hydropower project along the Trishuli River, and about 115 are believed to be trapped in the tunnel, according to the Nepal Independent Power Producers Association. Nepal’s Communications Minister Bikram Timilsina said officials remain hopeful that more workers will be rescued. “We are waiting for the rescue of more and more people,” Timilsina wrote on his Facebook page. Around 900 workers are missing at 12 hydropower projects in Nepal, and about 500 are believed to be trapped in tunnels, according to local authorities. At least 1,259 people died in the August 26 floods, likely caused by a collapsing glacier, and more than 5,000 people remain missing, according to the country’s disaster management agency. China said late Wednesday that 21 people had died and 541 were missing on the Tibetan side of the border. ___Saaliq reported from New Delhi.
