After surviving nine terrifying days trapped inside a flooded hydropower tunnel, Nepalese mechanical foreman Sanjay Sah has finally returned home.
But his emotional reunion with family and neighbours was not simply a celebration of survival.
For Sah’s village, the joy of seeing one man return alive was mixed with heartbreaking uncertainty as many families continue waiting for news of loved ones who remain missing after one of Nepal’s deadliest disasters in decades.
“I was trapped in the tunnel. I felt trapped in the hospital room too. I finally feel free here in my village,” Sah said after returning to Tilathi Koiladi, near Nepal’s border with India.
Nine Days in Complete Darkness
Sah, 30, was working as a mechanical foreman at the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station when a catastrophic glacier collapse on Aug 26 unleashed a devastating torrent of water, mud and debris through Nepal’s Himalayan region.
The disaster buried and damaged hydropower facilities, villages and critical infrastructure near the border with China.
Sah became one of hundreds of workers feared trapped or missing at hydropower projects.
He was among only a small number of people pulled alive from debris-filled tunnels after spending nine days underground. He survived in darkness by drinking floodwater and water seeping through the mountain rock until rescuers finally reached him.
The ordeal was so severe that Sah lost track of time while trapped underground.
Earlier reports detailed how he drew strength from thoughts of his wife and young daughter and used prayer to remain calm during the terrifying wait for rescue.
The Moment Rescuers Finally Found Him
Sah’s rescue was one of the rare breakthroughs in a massive search operation involving dangerous terrain, collapsed tunnels, mud and continuing bad weather.
According to accounts of the rescue, crews repeatedly stopped their machinery to listen for sounds coming from deep inside the tunnel.
Eventually, they heard what appeared to be survivors trying to communicate.
After pushing through mud-filled passages, rescuers finally spotted a hand.
When they broke through, the survivors reportedly responded with words meaning, “We are here.”
Sah and fellow survivor Kabir Maharjan were too weak to walk when they were finally brought into the daylight. Sah had to be carried from the tunnel, while Maharjan was taken out on a stretcher.
A third survivor was later rescued from another hydropower tunnel, providing a rare moment of hope for families still searching for hundreds of missing workers.
A Tearful Homecoming
After receiving hospital treatment in Kathmandu, Sah left the capital and began the long journey back to his village.
Around 60 people, mostly women, reportedly gathered to welcome him home.
His parents, uncle, wife and daughter took part in a traditional welcome ceremony.
Family members washed his feet as part of a cleansing ritual before his mother placed a pink vermilion tika on his forehead.
Then came the moment everyone had waited for.
Sah embraced his family as tears flowed.
His mother reportedly cried out, “My son!” as she held him tightly.
But even as the village celebrated Sah’s extraordinary survival, grief remained everywhere.
Many residents are still waiting for information about relatives who had been working at hydropower stations devastated by the floods.
Hundreds of Hydropower Workers Still Missing
The disaster has dealt a devastating blow to Nepal’s hydropower sector.
Earlier Associated Press reporting said around 900 workers were unaccounted for at multiple hydropower projects damaged by the flooding, with hundreds feared trapped inside tunnels during the initial rescue operation.
In the latest Reuters report, Sah said many people from his own village were still missing.
While recovering in hospital, one family even contacted him to ask whether he had seen or heard from a relative who had been working at another power station.
He had no answer to give them.
“There are more people from my village still missing after the flood,” Sah said.
A Disaster That Devastated Entire Communities
The glacier collapse triggered a massive cascade of water, mud, ice and debris through mountain valleys, destroying communities and infrastructure.
The latest Reuters report said at least 1,386 people had died across Nepal, while more than 5,000 remained missing at the time of Sah’s homecoming.
Satellite-based research into the Aug 26 disaster has also highlighted the enormous scale of the event, with researchers mapping a cascading rock-and-ice failure near the China-Nepal border and extensive downstream destruction.
The disaster has left rescue teams facing an extraordinarily difficult task as they search unstable mountain terrain and damaged underground facilities.
“I Want to Meet All My People”
For now, Sah says he wants to stay home.
After nine days trapped beneath the mountains and another week recovering in a hospital room, simply being surrounded by family and neighbours has given him a sense of freedom.
“I will stay in my village for some time now. I want to meet all my people,” he said.
But despite the trauma of his ordeal, Sah has not ruled out returning to work.
“If I am called back to duty, I will go.”
A Miracle Return—But the Search Is Far From Over
Sanjay Sah’s survival is being seen as one of the most remarkable stories to emerge from Nepal’s devastating glacier disaster.
He survived nine days in darkness.
He endured hunger, fear and isolation beneath a mountain.
He waited as rescuers fought through mud and collapsed passages to reach him.
And finally, he came home.
But for the people of Tilathi Koiladi and countless other families across Nepal, the story is not over.
While one family has been reunited, thousands of others are still waiting.
And as Sah embraces the people he thought he might never see again, one painful question continues to haunt the disaster zone:
How many more survivors could still be waiting to be found?
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