Kathmandu, Sept. 4 -- Kabir Maharjan looked up, tears blurring his vision, and nodded from the stretcher. He was unable to speak. He folded his hands and greeted the rescuers with a namaste.

Suddenly, people clapped. Rescuers who had not smiled for more than a week wept openly and embraced one another.

The tunnel walls echoed with joy. A crowd gathered within minutes. A miracle had happened. Within seconds, the news travelled around the world.

On the 10th day of the Rasuwa floods, after more than 72 hours of gruelling work inside a dark, muddy and dangerous passage, rescuers pulled Maharjan alive from the tunnel of the Upper Trishuli 3A hydropower project on Friday morning.

Before Maharjan, Sanjay Sah had also escaped a life-and-death...