Sanjay Sah, one of two men rescued alive from a hydropower tunnel in Nuwakot on Friday, told rescuers that he stayed behind as others fled after the disaster because he was responsible for getting everyone out safely.

Sah, a mechanical foreman from Saptari, said he was working in the control room of the Trishuli 3A hydropower project when the accident occurred. Rather than fleeing immediately, he said, he first tried to get others to safety.

“I was working in the control room. My responsibility was to save everyone’s life,” Sah told a medical team from the Nepali Army after being pulled out of the tunnel.

He said he urged everyone to run after the accident, but by the time others had left, it was too late for him to escape.

“I told everyone to run. In doing that, my time was lost. In the end, I could not get out,” he said.

Sah said he spent his time inside reciting a mantra as he waited to be rescued.

Asked how many people might still be trapped inside, he said he had heard or communicated with three or four people in his vicinity.

“There were only three or four people with whom we were able to communicate, nearby, by talking or making noises,” he said.

Sah also said there could be more people trapped deeper inside the tunnel, including around the powerhouse.

“There could be. Not everyone may have been able to escape. The tunnel is very long,” he said, adding that the force of the floodwater could have carried people deeper inside.

Sah was rescued from the Trishuli 3A tunnel on Friday, nine days after a flash flood struck the Trishuli valley on August 26.

Another worker, Kabir Maharjan of Kathmandu, was also rescued alive from the tunnel on Friday.