Watch: 2 workers make it out alive 9 days after Nepal floods hit hydropower tunnel - The Times of India

**Two workers rescued after nine days trapped in a flood‑damaged hydropower tunnel** *Kathmandu, 4 Sept 2026* – After nine days of a harrowing underground ordeal, two laborers emerged alive from a hydropower tunnel that was inundated when monsoon‑driven flash floods swamped the central Himalayas on 26 August. The men, who were part of a construction crew working on the Madhya Karnali hydro project in the mid‑hill district of Dailekh, were rescued by a joint operation involving the Nepalese Army, the Nepal Police and local fire‑rescue teams. The tunnel, designed to channel water to a 30 MW turbine, was completely flooded when the swollen Karnali River breached a temporary cofferdam. Rescuers had to drill a narrow shaft through the collapsed rock and pump out water before they could reach the trapped workers, who survived on limited rations and rainwater that seeped through the tunnel walls.

The tunnel rescue is only a small chapter in a disaster that has devastated Nepal. Official tallies released by the Ministry of Home Affairs put the death toll at **1,282**, with **over 5,000** people still missing as of Thursday. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates the total economic loss at **US $2.56 billion**, a figure that includes destroyed homes, washed‑out roads, and severe damage to critical infrastructure such as the nation’s expanding hydropower network. Nepal’s Finance Minister, Prakash Shrestha, has warned that rebuilding will require **US $5 billion**, a sum far beyond the current capacity of the Green Climate Fund, which holds less than ten percent of the needed financing.

In the political arena, the disaster has sparked heated debate over international aid. Earlier this week, Environment Minister **Ramesh Koirala** sparked controversy by saying Nepal needed “**compensation from the world**” to recover from the floods. Facing backlash, Koirala clarified that his remarks referred to *climate‑related* compensation under the UN FCCC mechanisms, not a blanket demand for external funds. The government has since appealed to donor nations and multilateral institutions for urgent assistance, emphasizing that climate‑induced extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and that the nation’s climate‑resilient reconstruction plan hinges on swift, adequately funded support.