'I was chanting Krishna mahamantra': Nepal worker rescued from tunnel after 9 days

In surprising detail, a 30-year-old worker rescued from a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydropower project in Nepal after nine days claimed that he kept chanting the ‘Hare Krishna’ mantra while trapped, with the expectation of being saved. He was trapped in the tunnel during the devastating floods that claimed thousands of lives.

“I was chanting Hare Krishna mahamantra for the past nine days,” Sah said after he was rescued safely. A video has also been released by the Nepali Army displaying Sah being carried on a worker's back, with his face covered with mud.

Sah, an employee of the Nepal Electricity Authority and a foreman from Saptari district in Madhesh province, stated that he had been working in the control room when the disaster hit the area. During the flood, he initially stayed behind to save others. “I was working in the control room. My responsibility was to save everyone’s life,” Sah said.

Shah trapped for nine days

He also mentioned that he had alerted others to flee after learning of the disaster occurring upstream. However, by the time he tried to escape himself, it was too late. He then spent nine days trapped in darkness inside the tunnel. He said he was able to stay in contact with three or four nearby workers, either by speaking or making sounds.

Sah added that additional people might still be trapped further inside the tunnel, possibly near the powerhouse. “Not everyone may have been able to escape. The tunnel is very long,” he said, and added that the force of the floodwater could have carried people further inside.

The other rescued worker, 45-year-old mechanical supervisor Kabir Maharjan, was airlifted to Nepal Army Hospital in Chhauni, Kathmandu, for treatment due to health complications, while Sah was taken to a local hospital in Trishuli. Security officials said his condition was stable.

Sah and Maharjan are the first workers rescued from the hydropower project since the disaster struck, though a small group had earlier managed to escape from a different tunnel shortly after the incident. Search and rescue efforts, led by the Nepal Army using specialised equipment, are ongoing.