KATHMANDU: For 10 days, Bidya Dangol did not know whether she would see her brother Kabir Maharjan again. Maharjan, from Lalitpur, was trapped inside the Trishuli 3A hydropower project tunnel after the devastating flood in Rasuwa on Aug 26 blocked the tunnel entrance.
On Friday (Sept 4), 10 days after the flood, he was finally brought out alive.
A Nepal Army-led rescue team, working with technical personnel, located and safely rescued Maharjan and another person, Sanjay Sah, 30, trapped inside the tunnel.
Maharjan was brought to Kathmandu and taken to hospital, where his treatment has begun.
His sister Dangol rushed to the Military Hospital in Chhauni after learning that her brother had been brought there. She was still waiting to see him when she spoke to reporters.
“We are very happy today. I heard that my brother has been brought here. I haven’t been able to see him yet, but I am relieved,” she said.
The relief, she said, was difficult to put into words.
“He is safe. That is all that matters. We are extremely happy. There is no limit to our happiness,” she said.
“My brother had been in there for 10 days. All of us sisters came here to see him. We had almost lost hope. We never imagined that something like this could happen.”
NDTV reached Maharjan's house, located just 35 kilometres from Kathmandu, and spoke to his family.
His mother neither speaks nor understands English or Hindi.
When asked about her son's survival, she replied in the Nepalese language. She kept her hands folded in prayer, and her eyes welled up with gratitude.
The man's sister-in-law translated what the woman couldn't describe in words.
"She (his mother) has been praying for her son's safe return. She used to rebuke anyone who said anything negative about Kabir's return. She kept repeating that her son would return," she said.
She also broke down and clarified that she was just overwhelmed.
"It was a very tough time for us... ye khushi ke aansu hain," she added.
Kabir's son, a Class 10 student, said the past nine days were the toughest time of his life.
"We were very stressed out about our father for nine days. It was a tough time for us. During this time, I tried to take care of my family," he said.
On Friday morning, before Kabir's sister Dangol knew her brother had been found, she had prayed for his safety.
“I performed puja in the morning. I was praying to God that nothing would happen to my brother,” she said.
After completing the puja, she checked her phone while having tea.
“I saw the news on my phone. I became extremely happy and immediately called my younger sister,” she recalled.
“I told her, ‘Maya, this has happened, right?’ She said, ‘Yes, sister.’ We were so happy. I just said, ‘Oh God, thank you a million times.’”
Maharjan worked as a supervisor at the Trishuli 3A project.
His rescue has also brought a renewed sense of hope to families waiting for news about others still believed to be trapped or missing following the flood.
Dangol said she was now praying for the safe rescue of everyone still inside the tunnel.
Both men are stable and are receiving treatment in a hospital in Kathmandu.
At least 12 hydroelectric projects and related infrastructure were smashed by the floods.
Rescue workers have continued searching for missing workers, hoping for yet another miracle. - Agencies
