Sanjay Sah, a 30-year-old mechanical foreman at the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station, survived nine days trapped inside a flooded, debris-choked powerhouse by drinking seepage and chanting the Maha Mantra. He kept his eyes closed for long periods to avoid injury and lost all sense of time, learning later he had been rescued on the 10th day. In the final hours before rescue he heard excavators and people working, which renewed his hope. The glacier collapse has left at least 1,300 dead and more than 5,300 missing in Nepal and Tibet.
Nepali Foreman Survives Nine Days Trapped in Flooded Hydropower Tunnel
Sanjay Sah is carried by members of a search and rescue team after being one of two people rescued alive from a tunnel at the Trishuli-3A Hydropower Project, where two people had been trapped following devastating floods and mudslides that struck the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa, Nepal, September 4, 2026. Nepal Army/Handout via REUTERS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. REFILE - ADDING NAME OF A SURVIVOR.
KATHMANDU, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Sanjay Sah, a 30-year-old mechanical foreman at the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station, says he survived nine days trapped inside a multi-storey powerhouse tunnel after a Himalayan glacier collapse sent a catastrophic flood through the facility.
Sanjay Sah, a survivor pulled out alive after spending nine days trapped in a hydropower station tunnel following flash floods and a mudslide, speaks with a member of the media at his sister’s rented apartment after being discharged from the army hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, September 11, 2026. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar
Built deep into the mountainside, the six-floor powerhouse was transformed by mud and debris. Sah says he had no food and survived by drinking seepage and floodwater. To avoid injuring himself in the pitch-black wreckage, he kept his eyes shut for long stretches and later found it difficult to open them.
Laxmi Sha, wife of Sanjay Sah, a survivor pulled out alive after spending nine days trapped in a hydropower station tunnel following flash floods and a mudslide, takes a selfie at his sister's rented apartment after being discharged from the army hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, September 11, 2026. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar
Faith, Family and Survival
Facing despair, Sah recited the Maha Mantra—"Hare Krishna... Hare Rama..."—which he says calmed him and gave him strength. Thoughts of his two-year-old daughter and 26-year-old wife helped sustain his morale during the ordeal.
A bandaged hand of Sanjay Sah, who was pulled out alive after spending nine days trapped inside a hydropower station tunnel following flash floods and a mudslide, as he sits at his sister’s rented apartment after being discharged from the army hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, September 11, 2026. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar
"Even if I had to die, I thought, what would be the point of giving up quickly? So I continued to chant God's name... The Maha Mantra gave me a different kind of feeling. I wasn't afraid. Instead, I felt calm and relaxed," he told Reuters after being discharged from hospital.
Sah says the flood altered the interior beyond recognition: equipment and boxes were swept away, walls had collapsed and debris created mounds and pits that made his prior knowledge of the layout useless. In the darkness he frequently bumped into objects, cutting and scraping himself; some debris pierced his feet.
Sanjay Sah, a survivor pulled out alive after spending nine days trapped in a hydropower station tunnel following flash floods and a mudslide, pose for a picture along with his family members at his sister's rented apartment after being discharged from the army hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, September 11, 2026. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar
Rescue and Aftermath
He believed a rescue would come and lost track of time while trapped; he was surprised to learn he had been rescued on the 10th day. In the final 10–12 hours before his recovery, Sah heard the sounds of excavators and ladders—noises that renewed his hope.
Sanjay Sah, a survivor pulled out alive after spending nine days trapped in a hydropower station tunnel following flash floods and a mudslide, speaks with a member of the media at his sister’s rented apartment after being discharged from the army hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, September 11, 2026. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar
Sah also recalls briefly encountering a colleague, 45-year-old Kabir Maharjan, before the deluge, and said some people he had urged to evacuate were swept away. The glacier collapse in late August has left at least 1,300 confirmed dead and more than 5,300 missing across Nepal and China's Tibet region.
Sanjay Sah, a survivor pulled out alive after spending nine days trapped in a hydropower station tunnel following flash floods and a mudslide, sits with his wife Laxmi Sha and his daughter Sundira Sah at his sister's rented apartment after being discharged from the army hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, September 11, 2026. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar
Sah is now recuperating at his sister's home in Kathmandu. His account highlights both the human cost of the disaster and the role of faith and endurance in survival.
(Reporting by Sahana Bajracharya; Additional reporting by Aftab Ahmed and Navesh Chitrakar; Writing by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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