In what tunneling expert Arnold Dix is calling 'one of the great rescues of the 21st century,' two workers were pulled alive from a flooded hydropower tunnel in Nepal on Friday - nine days after flash floods turned the Nepal-Tibet border into a muddy, debris-filled nightmare.
Sanjay Shah and Kabir Maharajan, who had been trapped inside the Trishuli 3A hydropower project since a glacial collapse unleashed a torrent of mud, water, and debris, were found alive after more than a week. Their rescue has given a much-needed morale boost to the hundreds of rescuers and the families of the still-missing, because nothing says 'hope' like two guys who survived nine days in a flooded tunnel.
Dix, the Australian engineer and geologist invited by Nepali authorities to advise on the operation, told reporters, 'We've found two people alive, so that gives us hope.' He added, 'After more than a week, everyone's exhausted, but this spurs us on to try even harder and it now also gives us focus for how we might approach other rescues in other locations. We now have proof that people can survive this long.'
The rescue was anything but straightforward. First, workers had to locate the right tunnel - which sounds like a fun game of 'Where's Waldo?' but with life-or-death stakes. Then they had to blast through rocks the size of vehicles, which is not the preferred method because, you know, it might crush the people you're trying to save. After that, they found the tunnel full of water, so they dug an emergency trench to drain it, all while worrying the workers inside had already drowned.
But on Friday morning, about 50 metres in, they heard a faint voice. The team called out, 'Don't panic, we are rescuing you.' From inside the tunnel, a voice replied: 'OK.' That's the kind of calm, understated response you'd expect from someone who's been trapped for over a week.
Watching the video of the men being pulled out alive, Dix reflected on why he does this work: 'We do it because we're decent human beings and that's what human beings do: help one another. This is a real triumph for humans and humanity.'
But the work is far from over. Another 40 workers are believed to be trapped inside Trishuli 3A, and rescuers face significant risks. If there's water ahead and they break rock, they could drown; and since they're now below flood-plain level, water could also rush in from behind. Dix warned, 'Yes, we have the reward of having rescued two people now, but we have to be so careful. The team's lives are at risk right now and if they can't get out in time they will drown. Like, this is not a drill, we are witnessing one of the great rescues of the 21st century.'
The team is now tunnelling toward the 'Goldilocks zone' at the top of the 11-storey power station, hoping to find more survivors. So far, more than 270 people have been rescued from various hydropower projects, but the death toll is staggering: at least 1,294 people killed and more than 5,000 missing, according to Nepal's disaster management agency.
International help is arriving. Thirty-eight Australian government officials, disaster response specialists, and humanitarian workers are on the ground in Nepal, including a 15-person Australian Disaster Assistance Response Team that landed in Kathmandu late Friday night. Seven disaster victim identification specialists from the federal police are set to leave Australia on Saturday.
As of 4 September, Nepal reported 1,294 confirmed deaths and 5,053 missing, including 583 foreign nationals. China reported 31 deaths and 531 missing as of 5 September, with 261 of those being foreign citizens. Because when a disaster hits one country, it always finds a way to become an international incident.