High in the Himalayas, where ice and human ambition have long shared uneasy ground, a glacier gave way on August 26, sending ice, rock, and ruin through Nepal's Trishuli Valley and sealing nearly 900 workers inside the tunnels of six hydropower projects. More than 1,200 people perished and tens of thousands were displaced in what stands as one of the gravest mountain disasters in recent memory. Nine days into the silence, two men — Sanjay Sah and Kabir Maharjan — were pulled from the dark alive, offering a fragile proof that survival is still possible, even as the fate of hundreds more remains
Two workers rescued alive from Nepal hydropower tunnel nine days after glacier collapse
Over 1,200 people killed and tens of thousands displaced by glacier collapse; at least 900 trapped in hydropower tunnels with uncertain survival prospects.
The entire family is very happy. The entire family is very happy.
Mark
So a glacier just collapsed and sealed people inside tunnels? How does that even happen?
Mimi
The glacier failed on August 26 high up in the Trishuli Valley. When it went, it sent ice, rock, and mud down the mountain with enormous force. The hydropower projects have tunnels running through the rock—that's how they divert and channel water. The collapse essentially sealed the entrances and trapped whoever was inside.
Luke
Do we know if the tunnels themselves were damaged, or just blocked? That matters for rescue.
Mimi
The reporting doesn't specify the structural condition of the tunnels. We know people are trapped inside them, but not whether the tunnels collapsed or are just sealed.
Mark
And 900 people are still in there?
Mimi
At least 900, according to officials. That's across six different hydropower projects along the river. The two men pulled out on September 4 were from just one station—the Upper Trishuli 3A.
Luke
Nine days is a long time. What were conditions like? Air, water, food?
Mimi
The reporting doesn't cover that. We know the two survivors were extracted and that one of them, Kabir Maharjan, has paralysis in his hands and legs. But we don't have details about what those nine days actually looked like underground.
Mark
Why is Maharjan paralyzed? From the collapse itself, or from being trapped?
Luke
The reporting doesn't say. It just states the fact of the paralysis. Could be crush injury, could be something else entirely.
Mimi
His family found out he'd been found through the news before any official contact. That tells you something about how chaotic the situation still is.
Mark
What happens to the 900 others?
Luke
That's the open question. The reporting says rescue operations are continuing, but it doesn't say how, or how long it might take, or what the realistic chances are.
El Pulso
- A catastrophic glacier collapse on August 26 killed over 1,200 people and transformed six hydropower tunnels along the Trishuli River into underground prisons for at least 900 workers.
- Nine days of silence passed before rescue teams reached the Upper Trishuli 3A station and extracted two survivors — a mechanical foreman and a mechanical supervisor — both conscious but one unable to move his hands or legs.
- Kabir Maharjan's family learned of his rescue not from officials but from a television broadcast, a detail that reveals the strained and chaotic nature of communication amid the ongoing disaster.
- Both survivors are being transported to Kathmandu for medical care, but Maharjan's severe paralysis signals that survival itself carries a long and uncertain road ahead.
- Rescue operations continue across all six hydropower sites, but with hundreds still unaccounted for after nine days underground, the window for further rescues is narrowing and the prospects remain deeply uncertain.
High in the Himalayas, where ice and human ambition have long shared uneasy ground, a glacier gave way on August 26, sending ice, rock, and ruin through Nepal's Trishuli Valley and sealing nearly 900 workers inside the tunnels of six hydropower projects. More than 1,200 people perished and tens of thousands were displaced in what stands as one of the gravest mountain disasters in recent memory. Nine days into the silence, two men — Sanjay Sah and Kabir Maharjan — were pulled from the dark alive, offering a fragile proof that survival is still possible, even as the fate of hundreds more remains unresolved beneath the mountain.
On August 26, a glacier high in the Himalayas collapsed, sending ice, rock, and mud cascading through Nepal's Trishuli Valley. More than 1,200 people were killed. Tens of thousands were displaced. And at least 900 workers — employed across six hydropower projects carved into the valley's mountainsides — found themselves sealed inside industrial tunnels with no way out.
For nine days, those workers remained underground. Then, on September 4, rescue teams reached the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station and pulled two men from the dark: Sanjay Sah, a mechanical foreman, and Kabir Maharjan, a mechanical supervisor. Both had been underground since the collapse. Both were alive.
Survival, however, arrived in unequal measure. Sah's injuries were not considered critical. Maharjan could not move his hands or his legs. Both men were transported to a hospital in Kathmandu, where the full weight of nine days underground would begin to be assessed.
Maharjan's family learned of his rescue through a television broadcast before any official word reached them. His brother Amir said the entire family was overjoyed — a happiness that was genuine, and shadowed. Paralysis carries its own long future.
The rescue of two men offered a small opening in a much larger catastrophe. Officials believed hundreds more remained trapped across the six tunnel systems along the Trishuli River. Rescue operations were continuing, but nine days had passed, and the question of whether the fortune that found Sah and Maharjan could extend to those still underground was one no one could yet answer.
On August 26, a glacier high in the Himalayas failed. Ice, rock, and mud descended through the Trishuli Valley in Nepal with enough force to kill more than 1,200 people and scatter tens of thousands more from their homes. The collapse did something else: it sealed at least 900 workers inside tunnels. These were not caves or natural formations. They were passages carved into the mountain as part of six separate hydropower projects that line the river, industrial infrastructure built to harness water and generate electricity. For nine days, those workers remained trapped in the dark.
On September 4, rescue teams pulled two men from the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station. Their names were Sanjay Sah and Kabir Maharjan. Sah worked as a mechanical foreman. Maharjan held the rank of mechanical supervisor. Both had been underground since the collapse. Both were alive.
The fact of their survival mattered enormously, but survival is not a simple thing. Sah's injuries were not considered critical. Maharjan's condition was far graver. He could not move his hands. He could not move his legs. Rescue workers and government officials—including Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha's office—confirmed the extraction and the basic facts of their medical state. Both men were being transported to a hospital in Kathmandu, the capital, where they would receive care for injuries sustained during nine days underground.
Kabir Maharjan's family learned of his rescue through news reports before any official notification reached them. His brother, Amir Maharjan, said he had heard the news on television and was told to go to the hospital. "I have been hearing from the news that my brother has been found," Amir said. "The entire family is very happy." The happiness was real and understandable. It was also shadowed by the knowledge of what his brother's body had endured and what paralysis might mean for the years ahead.
The rescue of these two men represented a small opening in a much larger catastrophe. Officials believed that at least 900 people remained trapped in tunnels across the six hydropower projects along the Trishuli River. The glacier collapse had transformed a workplace into a tomb. The tunnels that workers had entered as part of their ordinary employment had become their prison. Nine days had passed. Rescue operations were continuing, but the prospects for the remaining trapped workers remained uncertain. The two men who emerged alive had been fortunate. Whether that fortune extended to the hundreds still underground was a question no one could yet answer.
Citas Notables
I have been hearing from the news that my brother has been found. The entire family is very happy.— Amir Maharjan, brother of rescued worker Kabir Maharjan
Quieres la nota completa?
Lee el original en The Straits Times ↗
Politics & Governance