Miracle Rescues in Nepal Renew Hope as Search Continues Following Catastrophic Glacier Collapse

Rescue teams in Nepal have successfully pulled a Chinese hydropower worker and a Nepali woman alive from the wreckage left by catastrophic flooding, as search operations continue for thousands of people still missing.

Lu Haitao was freed on Saturday from 225 metres inside a flooded tunnel at a hydropower plant in Rasuwa district, located in the mountains north of the capital, Kathmandu. Separately, 64-year-old Chandika Kumari Shrestha was dug out of her collapsed home in the neighbouring district of Nuwakot. Both individuals had been trapped since a glacier collapsed in the Himalayas on August 26, unleashing a massive torrent of water, rock and ice that swept through the valley.

Occurring within hours of each other, these rescues mark the third and fourth in recent days, renewing hope that more survivors might be found alive in the region’s flooded tunnels. Lu was brought out by a joint team of Nepali soldiers and South Korean disaster specialists, appearing stable though mildly hypothermic as he was airlifted to a hospital in Kathmandu.

Speaking to Chinese state television afterward, Lu described calling out to rescue crews whenever he glimpsed their torchlight in the tunnel, only to go unheard each time until a beam finally swept over him. “I couldn’t believe it,” he said.

Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng, reporting from Rasuwa district, noted that rain on Saturday had slowed the search efforts, though rescue teams continued to push forward. Shrestha, who was found covered in mud inside her flooded house, was provided with water by rescuers before being airlifted to Kathmandu for medical treatment, officials reported.

Her rescue followed that of two Nepali tunnel workers pulled alive a day earlier from a nearby hydropower site, representing the first survivors recovered from any of the region’s damaged plants.

According to the country's national disaster authority, the disaster has claimed the lives of at least 1,331 people in Nepal, while approximately 5,000 individuals remain missing, including 589 foreign nationals. Meanwhile, officials in Tibet, the autonomous region of China across the border, have recorded 31 deaths and 531 missing persons.

Around 900 workers remain unaccounted for at hydropower construction sites alone, with roughly 500 of them believed to still be trapped inside tunnels across a dozen projects damaged by the floodwaters. The glacier collapse sent debris crashing into towns and villages along river valleys relied upon for hydroelectric power, destroying vital infrastructure in an area popular with foreign trekkers and pilgrims.

Search teams from India, China, South Korea, and the United States have joined the ongoing operation, alongside a 15-member Australian drone unit deployed after Nepal requested international assistance. One survivor freed from the Trishuli-3A tunnel indicated that other workers were still alive further inside, prompting the Nepali army to focus subsequent searches on that site.

Bikram Timilsina, Nepal’s information and communications minister, stated that authorities remain optimistic about finding more survivors. “Estamos waiting for the rescue of more and more people,” he said.