Two workers have been rescued from a hydropower tunnel in Nepal nine days after deadly flash floods buried the site in mud, according to army spokesperson Brig Gen Raja Ram Basnet. The workers, Sanjay Shah and Kabir Maharjan, were pulled from a depth of 170 metres inside the **Trishuli 3A** tunnel, a hydropower project in one of the areas worst-affected by the floods. Shah, a foreman at Upper Trishuli 3A, was the first to be rescued and taken to the Nepal army barracks in Trishuli. Maharjan, a supervisor, was also rescued. Nepal’s army released images of Shah being pulled from the tunnel entrance, covered in mud but conscious, and carried from the site on a rescuer’s shoulder. Speaking to army officials after the rescue, Shah asked, “What day is it?” He described being trapped in the tunnel’s control room with around 40 to 45 people during the flood, stating he remained to help others escape. Shah mentioned he had been chanting mantras to stay calm and communicated with only three or four others during the ordeal. Officials said the two men were in stable condition and flown to a hospital in Kathmandu. Nepal’s communication minister, Bikram Timilsina, expressed hope for more rescues. According to the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal, at least 557 workers are missing from the hydropower project along the Trishuli River, with about 115 believed to be trapped in the main tunnel. Local authorities estimate about 900 workers are missing from 12 hydropower projects high up in the Himalayas, with about 500 believed to be trapped in tunnels. Rescue efforts have also been focused on the **Rasuwagadhi** hydropower plant, where authorities believe 46 workers trapped in an underground chamber are still alive. The floods, triggered by the collapse of a melting glacier on the border between Nepal and China-controlled Tibet, resulted in at least 1,287 deaths and more than 5,000 missing, according to Nepal’s disaster management agency. Rescue efforts have increasingly centered on hydropower tunnels, where authorities believe workers may have survived for more than a week due to air pockets. So far, more than 270 people have been rescued across several projects. Large boulders and flood waters had deluged the hydropower tunnels, blocking off the entrances, and some were buried deep in mud. At the Upper Trishuli 3A facility, it took rescue workers almost six days to find the tunnels. Army and specialist teams have been working round the clock to try and clear debris from the tunnel entrance. It was confirmed that voices of many people had been heard inside after a breakthrough was made on early Friday morning. After the rescue team called out, “Don’t panic, we are rescuing you,” they received a response from inside: “OK.” Families of those missing in the tunnels have been gathering at hospitals in Kathmandu and at the Nepal electricity office for nine days, desperate for answers about their relatives. Posters of workers missing in Trishuli 3A and other projects line the wall of Tribhuvan University teaching hospital in Nepal’s capital. Rescue efforts have also been ongoing in China, where a mudslide hit a major land crossing between the two countries. Chinese officials say at least 21 people were killed and 541 are missing on the Tibet side of the border. More than 800 foreign nationals are among those missing in the area, which is popular with trekkers and pilgrims. According to the State Department, 75 Americans remained unaccounted for as of Wednesday, while 16 had made their way to safety.