Chinese rescued alive from Nepal tunnel 10 days after devastating floods

A joint rescue operation involving the Nepal Army and international experts located the man about 225 metres inside a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Rasuwa district

A Chinese national has been rescued alive from a hydropower tunnel in Nepal, 10 days after catastrophic flooding left thousands dead or missing and trapped workers stranded underground.

A joint rescue operation involving the Nepal Army and international experts located the man about 225 metres inside a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Rasuwa district on Saturday, according to a statement from the Nepal Army.

The survivor, identified as Luhaitao, was found alive inside Audit Tunnel 4. Images released by the army showed rescuers carrying him out of the tunnel. His health was being assessed following the rescue, while search operations continued at other locations.

Luhaitao was among hundreds of hydropower workers reported missing after a massive surge of water and mud swept across areas near the China-Nepal border on August 26. The disaster followed a major glacial and rock collapse that triggered widespread flooding and caused extensive destruction to infrastructure.

The rescue came a day after two Nepali hydropower workers were pulled alive from another tunnel at the Trishuli 3A project. Their survival after being trapped for nine days was described by rescuers as a remarkable breakthrough in the ongoing search.

Nepal has recovered 1,344 bodies so far, while around 5,000 people remain missing, according to the country’s disaster management authorities. In neighbouring China, state media reported 31 deaths and 531 people missing, bringing the combined death toll to 1,375 and the number of missing people to more than 5,500.

Rescue teams, assisted by experts from India, China, Australia and South Korea, are continuing efforts to search blocked tunnels and other affected areas for survivors. Nepal Army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet said operations were underway at several tunnel sites.

The scale of the disaster has also placed enormous pressure on Nepal’s morgues. Nepal Police said around 1,030 unidentified bodies had been buried in mass graves after DNA samples were collected to facilitate identification later.

Meanwhile, thousands of displaced people remain in temporary relief camps. Prime Minister Balendra Shah has pledged to provide safer and more comfortable accommodation for those affected and vowed to help communities rebuild their lives after the devastating disaster.