Ten days after the severe flash floods that occurred in the Bhote Koshi River in Rasuwa, 64-year-old Chandika Shrestha was rescued from a four-storey house covered in thick debris on Saturday.
According to The Kathmandu Post, a nine-member Armed Police Force team, led by Inspector Suman Kumar BK, carried out the rescue. The Armed Police Force said Shrestha was found lying unconscious on the fourth floor of a house in Bidur Municipality-10, owned by her husband, Anand Shrestha.
After providing basic assistance and water, Shrestha was immediately taken to the Nepal Army’s Maibal Barracks in Trishuli via a helicopter. The Prime Minister’s Office said she would be brought to Kathmandu if further treatment is required.
Another Chinese national, Luhaitao, was also rescued from about 225 metres inside a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydroelectric Project. His health is being evaluated.
There is hope that there may still be people alive and trapped in the debris after a worker rescued on Friday indicated that there could still be four or five people trapped inside, prompting a more intense search.
The rescue operations come a day after two Nepali workers, Sanjay Sah and Kabir Maharjan, were rescued from a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-3A hydroelectric project. The two were found 40 metres deep into the tunnel after being trapped for nine days.
Rescuers blew up rocks and used excavators to dig through mud and concrete in a frantic search for about 42 hydropower plant workers trapped at the site.
A police constable said Sanjay was found sitting with his legs stretched out, and Kabir was trapped between slabs and logs further into the tunnel. The men were taken to a military hospital for treatment.
The death toll in the Nepal floods rose to 1,344 on Saturday, and rescue teams continue to search for around 4,900 people who remain missing. 275 Indian nationals are yet to be found, while 166 Indians have so far been rescued, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India remains in close contact with the Nepal government to trace the missing nationals.
