NewzKATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Rescuers in Nepal pulled out a Chinese man and a woman in separate operations Saturday, 10 days after devastating floods hit the country, as teams continued searching for thousands of missing people.The man was rescued from a hydropower tunnel, according to a social media post by the country’s prime minister’s office, bringing the total to three workers pulled alive from the Trishuli hydropower project. Two Nepalese workers were rescued on Friday.Nepal's army said a joint rescue team of Nepalese military personnel and South Korean disaster experts rescued the man from a 225-meter (about 740-foot) tunnel and that he was undergoing a health assessment. Images showed him being evacuated by helicopter, with an army medic checking on him during the flight.A photo released by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed two rescuers carrying the man, called Lu Haitao, out of the tunnel.CCTV shared audio of Lu talking to an officer, saying how he repeatedly shouted whenever he saw the rescue crews’ lights, but they could not hear him.“When they rescued me today, when they shone (the light) before my eyes, I couldn’t believe it,” he said.Lu was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition, according to CCTV.Lu’s sister, Lu Hairong, told Chinese state media Red Star News and Cover News that her 49-year-old brother was previously a farmer from Henan province in central China.
She said Lu, who has a wife and son, also took additional work, mainly carpentry, during his spare time before heading to Nepal for work with a fellow villager in February, Red Star reported.Lu’s family had been worried since the mudslide occurred, and his sister was thrilled when she saw her brother’s photo on the news.“It’s a stroke of sheer luck amid the misfortune,” she told Cover News, referring to the rescue.Rescue efforts have increasingly focused on 12 hydropower projects across Nepal, where about 900 workers are missing and roughly 500 are believed to be trapped in various tunnels, authorities said. Specialized rescue teams from India, China, South Korea and the United States have been searching through debris, damaged structures and tunnels at the projects, hoping to find survivors.In flood-hit Nuwakot town, a woman was rescued alive from a house, Nepal's army spokesperson said Saturday. Officials said she was airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment.Images released by…
The rescue brings to a total of three workers saved from a hydropower tunnel where roughly 500 people are believed to be trapped. A woman was saved from a Nuwakot home, and a man from a flood-damaged hydropower project tunnel in Rasuwa Security personnel helping a Chinese national (middle) walk after he was rescued from Audit Tunnel 4 at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project site in Nepal's Rasuwa district following flash floods.
(AFP pic)NUWAKOT: Rescuers pulled a Nepali woman alive on Saturday from her home buried under thick mud and debris when the region was struck by massive flooding 10 days ago. Emergency personnel said earlier they had rescued a Chinese man found alive inside a tunnel of the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Nepal's Rasuwa district. Members of Nepal's Armed Police Force cheered as the mud-caked 64-year-old woman, Chandrika Shrestha, was pulled from her buried home in Nuwakot district.
"A police team found her as they were clearing the area. She has been airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment," police deputy superintendent Iqbal Hawari told AFP. A video released by Nepal's Armed Police Force showed only a part of her house visible, with the lower floors completely submerged by thick sludge.
Emergency response teams have been working relentlessly to find survivors since a tsunami-like wall of water and mud swept through the China-Nepal border following a glacial and rock collapse on Aug 26. So far, 1,344 bodies have been recovered in Nepal, according to the national disaster agency, with about 5,000 people missing. In China, state media said 31 people had been killed and 531 were missing.
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