Chinese national rescued from Nepal tunnel 10 days after flash flood

A Chinese national was pulled alive from a tunnel in Nepal on Saturday, authorities said, 10 days after a wall of ice, rock and mud tore through a Himalayan valley, killing more than 1,300 people and leaving over 5,600 missing.

The Nepali army said the person, named only as Luhaitao, was rescued from inside a 225-metre tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project.

On Friday, rescue workers pulled two people from another tunnel at the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station on the same river.

Rescue workers have said they believe the August 26 collapse of a glacier on the upper reaches of the river trapped at least 900 people in tunnels related to six hydropower projects.

Footage shared by the Nepali army showed Luhaitao being given emergency medical attention inside a helicopter, which took him to an army hospital.

He appeared exhausted and disoriented, with dried mud and dust on his skin and clothing. A uniformed medic with a stethoscope was seen checking his vitals.

At least 1,344 people have been killed in Nepal in the floods that swept away ​houses, streets and schools in towns and villages near the border with China's Tibet, the disaster management authority said on Friday. About 4,887 are still missing, including 583 foreign nationals, many of them ​pilgrims and trekkers.

As of Friday, China said the death toll in Tibet was 31, with 531 others listed as missing, including foreign nationals, according to state media Xinhua. Some 261 foreign nationals remain missing in Tibet.

A woman, Chandika Kumari Shrestha, was also rescued from her home in Betrawati on Saturday, the Nepali army said. In an image shared by authorities, she is seen caked in mud inside a flooded underground structure as rescuers offer her water while working in a confined space filled with thick sludge.

FAMILY STILL HOPES MISSING RELATIVE WILL BE FOUND

At the Maithili Barrack in Nepal's Nuwakot district, families filled walls with posters showing loved ones believed to be trapped in the tunnels.

Among them was the image of Ishwor Poudel, the brother of 34-year-old Krishna Poudel. Ishwor has been a worker at the tunnel of the Hakubesi Hydroelectric Project for the past three years.

Krishna says he last heard from his brother on August 26, shortly after floodwaters tore through the valley.

"I spoke to him at 7:30 a.m. before he went into the tunnel for work. Around 11:30 a.m., after the floods came down, I finally got through and he told me: 'I'm trapped inside the tunnel.'"

The family has had no contact with him since, but remains hopeful. Survivors who escaped from the same tunnel told them that Ishwor was still alive.

"I met so many people who were able to escape and knew my brother. They told me, 'your brother is inside the tunnel, he was driving a vehicle inside.' They said they could hear the voices of about 200-300 people shouting from inside."