Kathmandu, Sept 4 (V7N) – Two hydropower workers were pulled alive from a tunnel buried by debris on Friday, offering a rare ray of hope on the tenth day of rescue efforts after catastrophic Himalayan flooding that has killed at least 1,308 people and left more than 5,600 missing.

Rescuers cheered as one man was pulled through a muddy opening, a video released by the energy ministry showed. He was helped to his feet by rescuers and later carried on the backs of emergency workers, raising his hand as they rushed him towards a helicopter. A photograph showed the second man caked in mud, his hands pressed together in prayer, as rescuers carried him on a stretcher.

"As long as there is breath, there is hope!" Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha said in a statement. "Rescue operations are continuing in all the affected tunnels. Let everyone's efforts and prayers continue. We have not lost hope."

Rescuers called it a "miracle" after the August 26 glacial and mountain collapse on the China-Nepal border triggered the disaster.

The rescued workers were identified as **Sanjay Sah (30)** and **Kabir Maharjan (45)**. Both were pulled from the Trishuli 3A hydropower tunnel and are in stable condition in a Kathmandu hospital.

Sah, speaking on a video broadcast on Nepali media shortly after his rescue, said he had survived by praying during the days in the dark. "What day is today? I was chanting maha mantra (Hindu prayers) inside," Sah said, adding that he believed more workers may be in the tunnel. "There were as many as 40 or 45 people... I told them and everyone to run out," he said of the moment the disaster struck.

Australian rescue expert Arnold Dix, president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, who has been advising the operation, told AFP that teams at the Trishuli 3A project had heard a faint response from inside the tunnel earlier Friday. "They believe they received a faint response from inside saying, 'hunchha', yes or OK," Dix said. He said rescuers had called into the tunnel: "Don't worry, we are rescuing you."

The disaster, described as a "Himalayan tsunami" by Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal, was triggered by a glacial collapse that sent a wall of mud and debris sweeping through the region. At least 12 hydropower projects were smashed by the floods.

Nepali rescuers, aided by experts from India, China and South Korea, had repeatedly hit walls of hard-packed debris in their search for survivors. Until Friday, none of the tunnel workers had been confirmed alive.

Nepal's disaster authority said the number of bodies recovered stood at 1,287, with 5,083 people missing. In China, state media said 21 people had been killed and 541 were missing, taking the overall death toll to 1,308 people, with 5,624 missing. More than 800 foreigners from at least 34 countries are among the missing.

Floods tore through mountain districts, destroying roads, bridges and multiple hydropower dams. Communities near the epicentre remain cut off. The United Nations has warned that the "magnitude of the destruction" makes delivering aid an immense challenge, with cargo drones and porters being considered to reach isolated communities. UN Nepal chief Lila Pieters Yahia launched a $50 million appeal on Friday to help more than 84,000 people, stating, "Families have lost everything."

Some Nepali families who were searching for their missing loved ones had begun holding symbolic funerals in recent days, reflecting dimming hope for survivors. Searches continue at multiple sites, with extra soldiers sent on Friday to boost the operation.

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