Conflict · Nepal tunnel rescueTwo Pulled Alive From Nepal Tunnel — 150+ Still TrappedAired September 5, 2026 at 6:21 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Two workers emerged alive from a buried Nepal tunnel after nine days.0:04The flash flood has killed more than 300 people and left more than 5,000 missing.0:09More than 150 are still feared trapped in half a dozen hydropower tunnels.0:14What else is still alive beneath the mud?0:16The count has climbed every day since the collapse on the 26th of August, from 1650:21dead in the first day to more than 1,300 now.0:24Nepal's disaster authority now counts 1,331 confirmed dead and nearly 5,000 missing.0:30The disaster authority and police counts differ by only 13 deaths, and both are0:36expected to climb as the missing list is reconciled.0:38On the Tibetan side, China reports 31 dead and 531 missing.0:43Combined officials put the toll at roughly 1,360 to 1,375 dead, with more than0:485,400 missing.0:5013,101 people have been rescued, and 589 foreigners are among the missing.0:55The two men pulled alive from the upper Trishuli 3A tunnel were Sanjay Sa and Kabir1:00Maharjan.1:01A third person's body was recovered in the same tunnel.1:04Officials said more than one person's voice has been heard from inside, and about 401:08people are believed still trapped in that tunnel alone.1:11Across the corridor, more than 150 are feared trapped in half a dozen buried1:15hydropower tunnels, with at least five separate rescue missions underway.1:19About 900 hydropower workers were originally feared missing across project sites.1:23Roughly 270 have been rescued or walked out.1:25Hundreds remain unaccounted for.1:27Record heat weakened the ice.1:29A mass then collapsed, registered as a magnitude 5.2 seismic event, but monitors1:34coded it as a minor quake.1:35The border gauge transmitted its last reading at 8.40 a.m.1:38and was destroyed.1:39Public alerts didn't go out until roughly 9:13 to 9:16 a.m., about 35 to 38 minutes1:45later.1:45By then, the surge had already wrecked the border and upper valley.1:48The warning systems were installed after a similar flood 14 months earlier, but they1:52were built for slower monsoon rises, not a collapse originating in Tibet.1:57Real-time glacier data from the Chinese side was not available in the minutes that2:00mattered.2:01The collapse sent a debris surge through the China-Nepal border at Girong port, then2:05down roughly 72 kilometers of the Trishuli and Botakoshi corridor.2:10Flood waters in the valley rose three to four stories.2:13In Nuwakot, one of the hardest-hit districts, crews are digging through thick mud2:17and debris at hydropower sites buried under the surge, racing monsoon rains to reach2:22possible air pockets.2:23In Trishuli, a town of 60,000, the flood destroyed 32 bridges, splitting the2:28community in two.2:30Farside residents were cut off for days without food or water.2:33Engineers built a self-operated metal cage on a wire pulley within a few hours, the2:37only crossing over the flooded gorge.2:39Deep in Joshi lost 15 relatives.2:42Their bodies recovered from rooftops.2:44A community church is sheltering 350 people, including a one-month-old baby, amid2:49severe shortages.2:50In Chitwan district, morgues were overwhelmed, forcing mass burials.2:54Schoolchildren are among the dead.2:56Nepal's damage estimate is already about $2.6 billion, with roughly 20,000 houses3:02needing rebuild and 7,500 destroyed.3:05More than 80 Americans were reported missing in the first days.3:08The State Department's most recent detailed public count is about 75, with no3:12confirmed American deaths.3:1413 American Kailash pilgrims have been accounted for, including Scott and Jill3:19Walker, who traveled two days to reach the United States.3:22Their original tour group remains unaccounted for, as does the largest named party3:26still missing.3:27About 77 to 80 people from 19 countries, including 22 Americans, last seen at the3:32Girong immigration checkpoint minutes before the surge.3:35Among the missing is Niraj, believed trapped in a flooded building in Newakot.3:39Families have been asked to submit DNA profiles to Nepal police.3:43Reports of the missing Americans vary by outlet and over time, from about 65 to 90,3:49but the State Department's most recent figure stands at about 75.3:53Relief is pouring in, international teams, tunnel rescue technical specialists, and3:57drone technology, but access to cutoff areas is only partly restored.4:02Scientists warn that warming high mountain Asia will keep generating sudden ice rock4:06collapses and lake outbursts, even at 1.5 degrees of warming.4:10Studies project about 30% of regional glacier volume gone by 2100.4:15About 200 lakes in the wider Himalaya are already treated as high or very high risk.4:20The 2015 Gorka earthquake that killed roughly 9,000 people loosened slopes in this4:25same Langtang region, making the ground more prone to collapse.4:28The official warning system account is not independently confirmed in full, and the4:32flood's full extent remains unclear.4:35What remains unresolved is what is still inside the tunnels.4:38The search for the more than 150 feared trapped, and for the hundreds of hydropower4:42workers and dozens of Americans who remain unaccounted for is not over.4:46Whether more people are alive in air pockets and whether the final death toll rises4:51substantially above the official count is the only number that still matters.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗