A Chinese national was pulled alive Saturday from a 225-metre hydropower tunnel at Nepal’s Trishuli project, raising the number of tunnel survivors to three after two Nepalese workers were rescued a day earlier.
Arnold Dix, the Australian tunnelling expert who helped direct the earlier rescue remotely, arrived in Nepal and said those saves confirmed “survivable pockets” may still exist inside debris-filled tunnels.
At least eight people are believed trapped in the Chilime tunnel, one of seven hydropower tunnel sites under rescue, with teams using engineering drawings and satellite imagery to target precise digging points.
The search continues 10 days after floods sent water, rock and debris through northern Nepal, where 1,294 deaths have been confirmed and more than 5,000 people remain missing.