Nepal tunnel survivor recalls 10 days in darkness

Nepali hydropower worker Sanjay Sah has described surviving for 10 days in darkness inside a flooded tunnel after the August 26 disaster on the China-Nepal border.

Sah, 30, told AFP he drank muddy water and lost all sense of time before a disaster response team rescued him on September 4. He said his first question after being pulled out was how many days had passed.

The flood hit a series of hydropower projects after a glacial mountain collapse. AFP reported that it killed at least 1,429 people and left more than 5,640 missing, most of them in Nepal.

Sah said workers had been warned floodwaters were coming but did not have enough time to escape. He said he was separated from colleagues but could speak with another trapped worker, Kabir Maharjan, 45, who also survived nearby.

Sah's wife, Lakshmi Kumari Sah, said she had not given up hope. Sah, who recuperated in a Kathmandu hospital before heading home to Saptari district, urged authorities to keep searching the tunnels.

One Chinese worker was rescued on September 5, a day after Sah. AFP reported that no signs of life have been heard since.