'Layer upon layer of miracles': How Nepal flood survivors were rescued from tunnel
Rescue teams in Nepal have successfully located and saved two survivors trapped in a hydropower tunnel following a massive flash flood. The operation involved complex engineering and the use of explosives to clear debris, led by international tunnelling expert Arnold Dix.
Why it matters
Highlights the extreme challenges of disaster response in mountainous regions and the importance of international technical cooperation in search and rescue missions.
Figure caption, Watch: Moment workers are rescued from Nepal tunnel
A tunnelling expert involved in the rescue operation at a blocked Nepalese hydropower tunnel has described to the BBC how they managed to reach survivors.
Arnold Dix has been advising Nepal's hydropower authorities on how to dig through the blocked tunnel to Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station, which was one of several stations hit by last week's massive flash flood on the Nepal-Tibet border.
"It's like layer upon layer of layer of miracles" that they found two men on Friday, he said, given that the multiple challenges they faced.
The first hurdle was to locate the hydropower station, in a landscape rendered nearly unrecognisable by the flood that has so far killed 1,300 people.
Also covering this story
12 other newsrooms covered this event. We read each version separately.
Dozens of trapped hydropower tunnel workers in Nepal could still be alive, official says
Nepal flash floods: Death toll rises to 1,259; missing figure crosses 5,000
2 trapped workers rescued from hydropower tunnel 9 days after Nepal floods
Relatives hold symbolic funerals for thousands missing as Nepal toll crosses 1,243
2 trapped workers rescued from a hydropower tunnel 9 days after Nepal floods
Video: Inside Miracle Rescue Of Workers From Nepal Tunnel After 9 Days
Two people rescued from Nepal hydropower tunnel more than a week after flash flood
Live updates: Rescues underway as two workers pulled alive more than a week after Nepal-China floods
Nepal flood death toll rises to 1,287, with 5,083 missing: disaster authority
2 rescued from Nepal hydropower tunnel 9 days after floods, contact established with others
Two trapped tunnel workers rescued in Nepal 'miracle'
Two Australians found safe as trapped workers rescued from tunnel
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in