Nepal tunnel worker survives nine days chanting Hare Krishna, rescued on Janmashtami

Kathmandu,UPDATED: Sep 4, 2026 19:02 IST

A 30-year-old worker rescued from a tunnel at Nepal’s Trishuli 3A hydropower project on Friday said he survived the nine-day ordeal by chanting the Hare Krishna mahamantra. His rescue came on Krishna Janmashtami, the festival marking the birth of Lord Krishna.

Sanjay Sah was among two workers pulled out alive after a flash flood tore through the Trishuli River corridor in central Nepal on August 26. The other survivor, 45-year-old mechanical supervisor Kabir Maharjan, was airlifted to the Nepal Army Hospital in Chhauni, Kathmandu, for further treatment, while Sah was taken to a hospital in Trishuli in Nuwakot district.

Sah, a foreman with the Nepal Electricity Authority from Saptari district in Madhesh province, said he was in the control room when the flood struck. Instead of fleeing at once, he stayed back because he felt responsible for others. “I was working in the control room. My responsibility was to save everyone’s life,” he said.

He said he told others to run after the accident, but by the time they got out, he could no longer escape. Inside the tunnel, he held on to the hope that others were still nearby. He told security personnel that he could hear or communicate with three or four people in his vicinity by talking or making noises.

Even after being rescued, Sah said he feared more people could still be trapped deeper inside the tunnel, including near the powerhouse. “Not everyone may have been able to escape. The tunnel is very long,” he said, adding that the force of the floodwater could have carried people deeper inside. “I was chanting Hare Krishna mahamantra for the past nine days,” he said shortly after being brought out safely.

His rescue came after Nepal’s security forces stepped up operations at the hydropower project with specialised equipment. Rescuers had earlier reported hearing voices from inside the tunnel and had established communication with people believed to be trapped there, according to the Kathmandu Post.

For Maharjan’s family, his rescue after nine days brought relief. “He has returned with a second life. We are extremely happy,” his wife Hira Shobha was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post.

The rescue came amid one of Nepal’s worst recent disasters. According to the Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal, more than 600 people working at 11 hydropower projects remain missing. More than 1,250 people have died and over 4,700 are still missing after the flash floods. The disaster was triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, which devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal and swept away homes, roads, bridges and other infrastructure along the Trishuli River corridor.

Friday’s rescue of Sah and Maharjan brought a rare moment of relief after days of devastation, even as many people remain missing and concerns continue over others who may still be trapped.

With PTI Inputs

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