Rescuers in Nepal pulled two workers alive from a hydropower tunnel Friday, nine days after catastrophic floods swept through the country's border region with China.

Emergency teams are continuing efforts to reach hundreds more believed trapped inside similar tunnels.

The men, identified as mechanical foreman Sanjay Shah and mechanical supervisor Kabir Maharjan, were freed from the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station's tunnel along the Trishuli River, according to a statement from the office of Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha.

"As long as there is breath, there is hope!" 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."

What do we know about the rescue?

Rescuers first heard voices from inside the tunnel Friday morning, authorities said. 

Video and photos showed Maharjan, 45, pulled from a hole in the ground as bystanders cheered. Images showed him being placed on a stretcher, while Shah, 30, whose face was covered in mud, was carried out on a worker's back to a rescue tent, where army doctors fitted him with an oxygen mask and checked his vitals. 

An aide to the energy minister said Maharjan could not move his hands or legs, while Shah's injuries were not considered critical. Both men were flown to a hospital in Kathmandu.

Family members reacted with relief. Amir Maharjan, Kabir's brother, told the Associated Press, "I can't explain what we are feeling at the moment. We are just grateful to god," adding that the family was heading to the hospital to see him.

What is happening at the hydropower project sites?

These were the first successful rescues concerning the hydropower projects along the Trishuli River. Officials say as many as 900 workers remain missing across a number of project sites, with roughly 500 believed trapped in tunnels, according to local authorities. 

At the Trishuli 3A project specifically, the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal put the number of missing workers at 557, with about 115 believed trapped in the main tunnel. 

Nepal's communication minister, Bikram Timilsina, said officials remained hopeful more survivors would be found: "We are waiting for the rescue of more and more people," he said. 

A team of experts coordinating through a WhatsApp group has been guiding rescue crews at the sites, becoming a key tool alongside helicopters and heavy machinery in the search effort.

What is the scale of damage caused by the Nepal floods?

Separately, Nepal's disaster authority estimated the floods caused at least 387.5 billion Nepalese rupees ($2.56 billion, €2.20 billion) in damage to property, housing and infrastructure, Dharma Raj Upreti, chief of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, told Reuters. 

He said the first four months of early recovery — including rebuilding roads, setting up temporary shelters, and restoring water and power — would cost an estimated $52.6 million. 

"These are estimated amounts. We have calculated this in coordination with different concerned agencies and departments," Upreti said, noting a more detailed assessment would follow. He said Nepal would need to rebuild around 20,000 houses in flood-affected areas, with at least 7,500 destroyed outright.

The floods on August 26 were triggered by the collapse of a glacier upstream on the Trishuli River that sent a wall of ice, rock and mud through towns and villages near the Nepal-China border.

At least 1,259 people have been killed in Nepal, according to the country's disaster management agency, with more than 5,000 still missing. 

China reported 21 deaths and 541 people missing on the Tibet side of the border as of late Wednesday.

Edited by: Natalie Muller

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