NEPAL, 05 September, 2026 (Nosheen): Rescue teams in Nepal pulled a Chinese national alive from a tunnel buried under debris on Saturday, 10 days after catastrophic flooding swept through the region and left thousands missing. A joint rescue team comprising Nepal Army personnel and foreign experts rescued the man from around 225 metres inside a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Rasuwa district, according to a military statement. The survivor, identified as Luhaitao, was found alive with his body covered in thick mud. Rescue officials said his health was being assessed while search and rescue operations continued at the site.He was among hundreds of hydropower workers who went missing after a tsunami-like wall of water and mud swept across the China-Nepal border following a massive glacial and rock collapse on August 26. Two Nepali hydropower workers were also rescued alive on Friday from the Trishuli 3A tunnel, where rescue operations continued alongside searches at several other locations. At least 12 hydropower projects were reportedly destroyed by the floods. According to Nepal’s national disaster agency, 1,344 bodies have so far been recovered in the country, while around 5,000 people remain missing. In neighbouring China, state media reported 31 deaths and 531 people missing, bringing the overall reported death toll to 1,375, with more than 5,500 people still unaccounted for.
Nepal Army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet said rescue work was continuing inside tunnels in an effort to locate possible survivors. The government had earlier estimated that more than 100 workers could still be alive inside several blocked tunnels. The rescue of the survivors has been described as a miracle after they spent days trapped beneath flood debris. The two Nepali workers rescued on Friday were taken to hospital and were reported to be in stable condition. Rescue teams from India, China, Australia and South Korea have been assisting Nepali authorities in searching blocked tunnels and other affected areas. With morgues overwhelmed by the large number of victims, Nepal Police said around 1,030 bodies had been buried in mass graves after DNA samples were collected for future identification. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Balendra Shah has pledged to provide safe and comfortable accommodation for thousands of people displaced by the disaster who are currently living in temporary relief camps.