Visuals show incredible rescue from Nepal flooding, aftermath

Greta Cross, USA TODAY

Updated Fri, September 4, 2026 at 2:43 PM UTC

1 min read

As flooding continues throughout Nepal , the first two people were rescued from a hydropower station on the Trishuli River on Friday, Sept. 4, government officials say.

Two men – Sanjay Sah, a mechanical foreman, and Kabir Maharjan, a mechanical supervisor – were pulled from a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station, Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha's office said in a statement. Maharjan cannot move his hands and legs, but Sah's injuries are not critical, Reuters reported.

Officials believe the Aug. 26 collapse of a glacier on the northern part of the Trishuli River and the ensuing flood trapped at least 900 people in tunnels related to six hydropower projects. At least 1,252 people were killed and more than 4,200 people are missing, with thousands more displaced. China has put the death toll in Tibet at 21, with 541 others listed as missing.

Scenes of loss and survival after deadly Nepal flash flood — People salvage belongings from their home following flash floods at Devighat in Nepal's Nuwakot district on Aug. 31, 2026. Nepal was burying some of the hundreds of bodies retrieved after a deadly, tsunami-like flood crashed through the Himalayan region, sweeping away villages and leaving thousands still missing. Distraught families have packed rescue stations and hospitals in search of their missing relatives, while others have faced the grim task of identifying bodies at overflowing morgues.
(ARUN SANKAR, AFP via Getty Images)

Scenes of loss and survival after deadly Nepal flash flood

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People salvage belongings from their home following flash floods at Devighat in Nepal's Nuwakot district on Aug. 31, 2026. Nepal was burying some of the hundreds of bodies retrieved after a deadly, tsunami-like flood crashed through the Himalayan region, sweeping away villages and leaving thousands still missing. Distraught families have packed rescue stations and hospitals in search of their missing relatives, while others have faced the grim task of identifying bodies at overflowing morgues.

(ARUN SANKAR, AFP via Getty Images)

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Photos show incredible Nepal flooding rescue

Photos show dramatic Nepal tunnel rescue as two trapped workers are freed — Army personnel carry a worker who was trapped inside a tunnel, during a rescue operation at Trishuli-3A Hydropower Project in Nepal's Rasuwa district in this handout photograph taken and released by the Nepal Army on Sept. 4, 2026. Two hydropower workers were pulled from a tunnel buried by debris in Nepal on Sept. 4, more than a week after catastrophic flooding swept through the area, government ministers said.
(HANDOUT, NEPAL ARMY/AFP via Getty Images)

Photos show dramatic Nepal tunnel rescue as two trapped workers are freed

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Army personnel carry a worker who was trapped inside a tunnel, during a rescue operation at Trishuli-3A Hydropower Project in Nepal's Rasuwa district in this handout photograph taken and released by the Nepal Army on Sept. 4, 2026. Two hydropower workers were pulled from a tunnel buried by debris in Nepal on Sept. 4, more than a week after catastrophic flooding swept through the area, government ministers said.

(HANDOUT, NEPAL ARMY/AFP via Getty Images)

This handout photograph taken and released by the Nepal Army on Sept. 4, 2026 shows army personnel carrying a worker who was trapped inside a tunnel, during a rescue operation at Trishuli-3A Hydropower Project in Nepal's Rasuwa district.

A survivor who was among two people rescued after being trapped inside a tunnel at the Trishuli-3A Hydropower Project following devastating floods and mudslides, receives medical attention, at a location given as Rasuwa district, Nepal, in this still image released Sept. 4, 2026.

Sanjay Sah, a survivor rescued from a tunnel of the Upper Trishuli 3A hydropower project nine days after the deadly flash floods and a mudslide, is carried to be air lifted to Kathmandu from an army base in Nuwakot, Nepal, Sept. 4, 2026.

Members of the Nepal Army move a survivor, Kabir Maharjan, rescued from a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli 3A hydropower project, nine days after deadly flash floods and a mudslide, after he was airlifted from an army base in Nuwakot to Kathmandu, Nepal, Sept. 4, 2026.

Contributing: Reuters

Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com .

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Visuals show incredible rescue from Nepal flooding, aftermath

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Photos show incredible Nepal flooding rescue