Nine Days Underground
Nepal flood survivor rescued after spending nine days trapped inside a debris-filled tunnel.
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Key Points
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Sah was trapped inside the multi-story powerhouse, which was built deep into the mountainside, and had worked there as a mechanical foreman for more than three years. The facility is a run-of-river project owned by Nepal’s state-run Electricity Authority.
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Another worker, 45-year-old Kabir Maharjan, was trapped in the tunnel with Sah. Floodwater separated the two men, and Maharjan was also rescued but suffered more serious injuries.
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Sah said thoughts of his wife and 2-year-old daughter helped sustain him during the ordeal, alongside his prayers and chanting.
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He said rescue sounds began roughly 10 to 12 hours before he was found, when he heard excavators and people working outside the tunnel.
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Sah described his survival through a spiritual resolve: “Even if I had to die, I thought, what would be the point of giving up quickly?” He said repeatedly reciting the Maha Mantra made him feel calm and free of fear.
A 30-year-old mechanical foreman in Nepal survived nine days trapped in a flooded underground tunnel with no food, drinking only murky floodwater and seepage from rock walls. FOX 26 reported that Sanjay Sah kept his eyes shut to avoid injury from flying debris, lost all sense of time, and relied on Hindu prayers and the Maha Mantra to stay calm. The disaster that trapped him—a glacier collapse that triggered catastrophic floods at Nepal's Upper Trishuli 3A hydropower station—has killed at least 1,300 people and left more than 5,300 missing across Nepal and China's Tibet region.
Sah was rescued on the tenth day after he heard excavators and workers outside the tunnel. According to Inshorts, he thought only two or three days had passed underground. His survival demonstrates extraordinary willpower: "Even if I had to die, I thought, what would be the point of giving up quickly?" Memories of his wife and 2-year-old daughter kept him fighting for rescue.
How a Glacier Collapse Buried a Hydropower Station
The Upper Trishuli 3A hydropower station sits deep inside a mountainside in northern Nepal. Whale's Book reported that a massive ice-rock avalanche on August 26 triggered devastating floods that destroyed the facility. Sah had worked as a mechanical foreman at the run-of-river project—owned by Nepal's state-run Electricity Authority—for more than three years.
Trapped Alone in Darkness for Nine Days
When floodwater engulfed the multi-story powerhouse, Sah found himself sealed inside the tunnel with limited air and no escape. Streamline Feed described how he survived without any food, drinking contaminated floodwater and seepage trickling from surrounding rock. He deliberately kept his eyes closed in the pitch-black darkness to protect them from debris and rubble swirling in the flooded passages.
Another worker, 45-year-old Kabir Maharjan, was also trapped but separated from Sah by floodwater. Both men were eventually rescued, though Maharjan suffered more serious injuries. Time became meaningless for Sah; he believed only 2-3 days had passed when rescuers finally reached him on day 10.
Prayer and Mantra Kept Him From Giving Up
In complete darkness with no food and no way out, Sah turned to spiritual discipline to survive. He repeatedly chanted the Hindu Maha Mantra, which he said filled him with calm and erased his fear. Head Topics noted that his unwavering mindset—refusing to surrender despite impossible odds—proved as vital as the floodwater he drank.
Sah credits thoughts of his wife and 2-year-old daughter with sustaining his will to live. When he finally heard excavators and workers outside the tunnel roughly 10 to 12 hours before rescue, he knew survival was possible. His ordeal ended on day 10—what he now calls his "second life."
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