Nepali Man Survives After Nine Days Trapped in Flooded Tunnel

KATHMANDU – Sanjay Sah, 30, survived after spending nine days trapped inside a hydropower tunnel in Nepal’s Rasuwa district following devastating floods and landslides on August 26, 2026.

Sah, a mechanical worker at the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project, was rescued alongside his colleague Kabir Maharjan on September 4. Rescue teams pulled the two men from a tunnel buried by mud and debris from the disaster.

Sah later told Reuters how he survived for days in complete darkness without food. He relied on seepage and floodwater to stay alive.

He also repeatedly chanted the Maha Mantra to remain calm while trapped underground.

The darkness and isolation distorted his sense of time. When Sah heard signs that rescuers were approaching, he believed he had been trapped for only two or three days.

In reality, nine days had passed.

Floods Hit Hydropower Project

Sah and Maharjan became trapped after floodwaters carrying mud and debris swept through the hydropower complex along the Trishuli River.

The disaster was triggered by the collapse of a Himalayan glacier on August 26. A massive flow of ice, rocks, mud and water then tore through valleys in Nepal and across the Tibet border region.

The disaster became one of the deadliest in the region in decades. Reuters reported that more than 1,300 people were killed, while thousands remained missing in Nepal and Tibet.

Hydropower facilities became some of the most difficult locations for rescue teams. Hundreds of workers were at the sites when the floods struck, with many believed to be trapped inside tunnel networks buried under debris.

Hope From Inside the Tunnel

The rescue of Sah and Maharjan brought new hope to families still waiting for news of missing workers.

A day after the two Nepali workers were rescued, teams pulled Chinese worker Lu Haitao alive from another hydropower tunnel after he had spent around 10 days trapped underground.

The successful rescues have encouraged search teams to continue operations at other damaged hydropower facilities.

For Sah, nine days in darkness ended with one certainty: he was alive.

Amid a disaster that killed thousands, his survival has become one of Nepal’s rare stories of hope.