'Second life': Nepal tunnel survivor recalls ordeal

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Mr. Sah’s extraordinary survival was a rare ray of hope after a disaster that killed at least 1,429 people and left more than 5,640 missing, the majority in Nepal. File | Photo Credit: Prabhat Khanal

For 10 days, Nepali hydropower worker Sanjay Sah survived in darkness inside a flooded tunnel, drinking muddy water and losing all sense of time as he desperately prayed for rescue.

When a disaster response team finally pulled him to safety on September 4, Mr. Sah's first question showed how deeply the ordeal had disoriented him.

"When I was rescued I first asked, how many days has it been?" Mr. Sah, 30, told AFP in an interview, while on his way back home in Saptari district Sunday (September 13, 2026).

"He said that it has been 10 days. I thought it had been just a few days."

Mr. Sah was among hundreds of workers at a series of hydropower projects hit by the catastrophic August 26 flood, triggered by a glacial mountain collapse on the China-Nepal border.

Mr. Sah's extraordinary survival was a rare ray of hope after a disaster that killed at least 1,429 people and left more than 5,640 missing, the majority in Nepal.

Struggling to hold back tears as friends and family welcomed him with garlands and a cake, Mr. Sah recalled how the disaster struck with stunning speed.

"I was on duty, and then suddenly an unthinkable flood hit us, with tsunami-like waves that were several metres tall," he said.

Workers had received warnings that floodwaters were approaching, but did not get enough time to escape, he said.

"We did get information to stay alert, that a big flood is coming. As much as possible, we tried to be alert and evacuate our friends," Mr. Sah said.

"But the water did not give us much time. We shut down everything, and tried to rescue and evacuate our friends."

The sheer scale of the flood was unlike anything witnesses had seen before, with the government pointing the finger at the dire impact of rising global temperatures on Nepal's Himalayan mountains.