Man Rescued Alive From Nepal Tunnel After Ten Days
Monday, 2026/09/07216 words3 minutes1818 reads
Nepalese rescuers and foreign experts pulled Chinese national Lu Haitao alive from a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project, about 10 days after the August 26 floods. The army said he was found in a 225-metre tunnel and airlifted for medical care in stable condition.
It was the third known live rescue from tunnels connected with hydropower projects in the disaster area. Two Nepali workers had been brought out alive from a separate Upper Trishuli 3A tunnel the previous day. Search teams continued working after ice, rock and mud tore through a Himalayan valley. Reuters reported more than 1,300 deaths and thousands missing; that count can change.
How could someone survive underground for so long? Public reporting provides no confirmed explanation. Tunnels can contain different compartments and conditions, but there is no evidence that a particular air pocket, water source or other feature kept Lu alive. Treating those possibilities as fact would be speculation.
Underground spaces require persistent but cautious work. Mud, floodwater, debris and damaged infrastructure can block access or make entry unsafe. The survival of people in more than one tunnel gave rescuers reason to keep examining locations where others might still be trapped. In complex disasters, the absence of an early rescue is not proof that a search area holds no survivors.
