Rescuers pull Chinese worker, Nepali woman from flood wreckage alive
Al Jazeera
β’Sat, 05 Sep 2026 15:33:02 +0000
π° What Happened
Rescuers in Nepal pulled a Chinese hydropower worker and a Nepali woman alive from the wreckage of catastrophic flooding that struck in late August 2026. Lu Haitao was freed on Saturday from 225 metres inside a flooded tunnel at the Trishuli-3A hydroelectric project in Rasuwa district, while 64-year-old Chandika Kumari Shrestha was dug out of her collapsed home in the neighbouring district of Nuwakot. The rescues were the third and fourth in days, coming within hours of each other.
π The Backstory
The two had been trapped since a glacier collapsed in the Himalayas on August 26, unleashing a torrent of water, rock and ice that swept through the valley. Around 5,000 people were still missing ten days after the disaster, with search teams combing the region's flooded tunnels. Lu was brought out by a joint team of Nepali soldiers and South Korean disaster specialists and flown by helicopter to a hospital in Kathmandu, appearing stable though mildly hypothermic.
π― Why It Matters
The rescues have renewed hope that more of the thousands still unaccounted for could be found alive. They also underscore the deadly risks posed by glacier-related disasters, which are expected to become more common as the climate warms, and the dangers faced by workers inside mountain hydropower tunnels.
Rescuers in Nepal pulled a Chinese hydropower worker and a Nepali woman alive from the wreckage of catastrophic flooding that struck in late August 2026. Lu Haitao was freed on Saturday from 225 metres inside a flooded tunnel at the Trishuli-3A hydroelectric project in Rasuwa district, while 64-year-old Chandika Kumari Shrestha was dug out of her collapsed home in the neighbouring district of Nuwakot. The rescues were the third and fourth in days, coming within hours of each other.
The two had been trapped since a glacier collapsed in the Himalayas on August 26, unleashing a torrent of water, rock and ice that swept through the valley. Around 5,000 people were still missing ten days after the disaster, with search teams combing the region's flooded tunnels. Lu was brought out by a joint team of Nepali soldiers and South Korean disaster specialists and flown by helicopter to a hospital in Kathmandu, appearing stable though mildly hypothermic.
The rescues have renewed hope that more of the thousands still unaccounted for could be found alive. They also underscore the deadly risks posed by glacier-related disasters, which are expected to become more common as the climate warms, and the dangers faced by workers inside mountain hydropower tunnels.