Two workers have been rescued from a hydropower tunnel at Nepal’s Trishuli 3A construction site, offering a glimmer of hope as rescue teams continue searching for hundreds of people missing at hydropower projects following last week’s catastrophic flooding.

The Nepal Army confirmed the rescues on Friday, releasing videos and photographs showing emergency operations at the site.

Nepalese lawmaker and engineer Shri Ram Neupane, who has been involved in the search effort, identified the rescued workers as Sanjay Sah and Kabir Maharjan.

Earlier, Neupane said rescuers had heard voices coming from inside the tunnel, raising hopes that more survivors could still be found.

According to Neupane, rescue workers called out to those trapped inside, telling them not to panic and assuring them that help was coming. A response was then heard from inside the tunnel.

At least 557 workers remain missing from hydropower projects along the Trishuli River, according to the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal. About 115 of them are believed to be trapped inside the tunnel at the Trishuli 3A site.

Nepal’s Communication Minister Bikram Timilsina said authorities remain hopeful that additional workers will be brought out alive as rescue operations continue.

“We are waiting for the rescue of more and more people,” Timilsina wrote on Facebook.

Meanwhile, the death toll from last week’s unprecedented flash flooding along the Nepal-Tibet border has risen sharply to 1,287, with another 4,216 people still reported missing as of Thursday.

The latest figures represent a significant increase from the previous day, when Nepal’s National Disaster Management Authority reported 1,114 deaths and 3,916 people missing.

Search-and-rescue operations remain underway across affected areas as emergency teams continue efforts to reach survivors and locate thousands of people still unaccounted for.