Cachella Smith
Live reporter

Image source, Nepal Army/Reuters

There is fresh hope in Nepal for more than 150 people trapped in hydropower tunnels in the Trishuli valley, following the rescue of two workers on Friday.

One of the survivors, Sanjay Sah, says he chanted mantras to help himself through the nine-day ordeal, and managed to stay in contact with three of four others while he was trapped.

The other, Kabir Maharhan, is now in hospital in a critical condition.

Around the same time, a body was retrieved from the tunnel - authorities say it's likely this person died in floodwaters while attempting to escape.

The men had been underground since Wednesday, 26 August, when a glacier collapse near the Nepal-Tibet border caused catastrophic flash flooding; more than 1,300 people have been confirmed killed, with more than 5,300 still missing.

There are believed to be at least 39 workers still in the Trishuli 3A tunnel - where an expert tells the BBC there could be a "Goldilocks zone" with the right conditions for survival - while more than 100 others are believed to be in similar tunnels along the valley.

Rescue efforts here and in other parts of Nepal remain "extremely challenging", as a power boss tells the BBC.

But in the words of the country's energy minister: "As long as there is breath, there is hope."

We're wrapping up our live coverage now. You can read more in our news story here, or to hear how teams managed the rescues you can read our explainer.

Image source, Reuters

Nepal's Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha says "we have not lost hope" that more survivors can be saved, as rescue operations continue across the country.

"As long as there is breath, there is hope!" he writes in a post on social media.

"Rescue operations are continuing in all the affected tunnels. Let everyone's efforts and prayers continue."

Shrestha also shared a video of ongoing rescue operations at the Trishuli 3B hydropower site, which is further downstream from the Trishuli 3A tunnel, where two people were rescued this earlier today.

A hydropower worker who was trapped for nine days in a tunnel says he urged his colleagues to run away but ran out of time to make his own escape.

The mechanical foreman, Sanjay Sah, says: "It was not right for me to run away... My responsibility was to save others."

Sah says he chanted mantras while trapped in the darkness underground and managed to stay in contact with three or four other workers somewhere in the tunnel.

Sah was rescued with fellow survivor Kabir Maharjan, a mechanical supervisor.

Helen Rossington
Senior meteorologist

Image source, Reuters

The Nepal Met Service is running special weather bulletins and the latest one (issued Thursday evening local time) includes a number of yellow rain warnings up to Sunday.

The weather conditions are currently what you would expect for the time of year with the monsoonal showers.

The Nepalese weather services are rated very highly as it is a country rather prone to environmental disasters.

However, they don't have weather radar as there are too many mountains.

Radar images show Nepal’s swollen rivers days after flash floodingpublished at 13:36 BST

13:36 BST

By Barbara Metzler

BBC Verify continues to monitor the aftermath of flash flooding that swept through from the Nepal-Tibet border on 26 August, killing more than 1,300 people.

Heavy cloud and monsoon weather make it difficult to assess the extent of the flooding using regular satellite images.

But radar satellites can see through cloud, allowing us to compare the landscape before and after the flooding.

Smooth water surfaces tend to reflect the radar signal away from the satellite, meaning rivers and flooded areas appear darker than the surrounding land in these images.

BBC Verify compared radar images taken on 19 August, a week before the floods, with images from 31 August.

At Bidur and upstream, the images show that the Trishuli river had widened considerably in places, with dark areas of water extending beyond its previous banks five days after the initial flood.

Further downstream, near Ratmate, areas of exposed riverbed and islands visible before the floods were covered by water in the later image.

In some places, BBC Verify analysis found the river was up to three times as wide as it had been before the floods.

Chinese state media outlet Xinhua reports 31 have died following the flash flooding on the Tibetan side of the border, while 531 remain missing.

It adds that 987 items were found which belongs to victims.

The revised death toll is an increase on Thursday's figure of 21. On the Nepal side, authorities say there are 1,280 dead and 4,708 missing.

Navin Singh Khadka
Global environment correspondent

Almost all the power plants in the debris-buried Trishuli valley corridor have tunnels.

These run-of-river type plants, which essentially use running river water to rotate their turbines and generate electricity, need tunnels mainly to carry water from the intake point to the powerhouse as the two can be at different elevations.

Pipelines and canals could achieve this too but in cases like the Trishuli basin, the river’s winding valleys make that difficult, whereas tunnels can pass through mountains and significantly reduce the distance.

“Underground tunnels require much less surface land than long canals or pipelines,” says Mukesh Kafle, a water resources engineer and professor at Nepal’s Tribhuvan University.

“They also avoid many obstacles such as steep slopes, settlements and roads.”

Experts also say tunnels normally protect the water conveyance part of the hydropower plant from avalanches and landslides better than exposed canals and pipelines.

But in this case, the scale of the disaster has meant that even the tunnels have been buried deep.

Earlier, we heard from Uttam Bhlon Lama, vice president at Independent Power Producers of Nepal.

The BBC news channel has just spoken with him again, and he says every effort is being made to rescue the "highly skilled people within the tunnels" of the hydropower sites.

Lama says reaching those trapped remains "extremely challenging" with difficulties such as getting heavy equipment to the sites to blast out the trees, mud and machinery blocking access.

Lama adds that the the river level is also very high and despite the design consultants and engineers working to save lives, the scenes in the valley are reminiscent of a "horrible movie".

The Nepali Army has shared footage of the rescue of the two survivors.

It gives us more insight on conditions inside the Trishuli 3A tunnel - including thick mud coating the floor, narrow passageways and very low headspace at some points.

Prakash Parki
BBC Nepali

In Nepal's west, several hundred kilometres from the Trishuli valley disaster site, officials are warning that the Chaulani river in Bhattar is partially blocked due to a landslide.

The District Administration Office, Darchula, states there is a possibility that the river could be completely blocked, as landslides from above are still continuing.

The office has issued a public notice urging citizens and concerned bodies living in the coastal areas of the Chaulani River to adopt high alert.

Chief District Officer Vartaraj Poudel says a sudden increase in water flow could pose a risk if the river is completely blocked, and then gives way.

The administration is urging residents of river settlements to remain aware of conditions and landslide activity, and to immediately move to a safer location if they see any risk.

As we reported earlier, Nepal is one of the countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis, with fears over impact to Himalayan mountain regions.

Two people have been rescued from a hydropower tunnel in the Trishuli valley nine days after being trapped inside following flash flooding along the Nepal-Tibet border.

The body of a third person has also been retrieved as rescue efforts continue.

An expert tells the BBC that this tunnel, in the Trishuli 3A hydropower site, could contain a "Goldilocks zone" with the right conditions for survival.

Rescuers have been pumping oxygen into the space and managed to tell those still trapped that they are working to reach them.

One of those rescued this morning, Kabir Maharjan, is in hospital in a critical condition - the second, Sanjaya Shah, was also airlifted to hospital but could be seen in footage walking and talking while he received support and treatment at the scene.

Nepal's disaster agency said on Friday that 1,287 bodies have been recovered across the country so far - while an estimated 5,083 remain missing.

Image source, Nepal Army/Reuters

Chinese authorities have rescued 155 more Nepalis stranded in Tibet following the flash flooding and returned them to Nepal.

Sindhupalchowk Chief District Officer Shashidhar Ghimire tells our colleagues at BBC Nepali that they entered Nepal through the Tatopani border crossing at around 14:00 on Friday local time (09:15 BST).

According to him, the rescued include 145 from Rasuwa, nine from Kathmandu, and one from Dhading - with Nepal authorities now making arrangements to deliver returned citizens to their homes.

It follows the earlier return of 144 Nepalis, including a minor, on Thursday.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Stephen McDonell
China correspondent, in Beijing

Image source, China News Service/VCG via Getty Images

On the Tibetan side of the border the official death toll remains low at only 21 people, however - given that 541 people are still listed as missing - the real death toll will be significantly higher.

Emergency teams seem to have shifted gear now, focusing on helping the living rather than holding out hope for more survivors.

Officials say they are setting up temporary shelters, checking water and food quality as well as providing psychological assistance for those who may have lost loved ones.

The recovery effort has led to the collection of 847 items believed to have potentially belonged to those who have lost their lives. They will be used to try to identify flood disaster victims.

They include pieces of police uniforms, children’s toys and personal items like bracelets.

Special hotlines set up for people who have missing relatives and friends had received 876 calls from family members by Wednesday at noon, including 428 from overseas.

Nepal is one of the countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis, even though it is one of the lowest emitters of global greenhouse emissions - and it wants others to step up and help.

South Asia correspondent Azadeh Moshiri reports below:

The United Nations warns of the immense challenge of reaching Nepal flood survivors, with destroyed roads forcing aid workers to consider using cargo drones and porters to reach isolated Himalayan communities.

"It is just incredible, the magnitude of the disaster, the magnitude of the destruction," says Lila Pieters Yahia, the UN chief in Nepal.

"Access has been very, very, very difficult."

The map below shows the scope of last week's event, with flash flooding stretching for dozens of miles downstream.

While rescue efforts continue at the Trishuli 3A hydropower site, other areas of Nepal are also still dealing with the aftermath of the flash flooding.

Earlier, we had an update from an army colonel who says troops have been deployed for rescue operations in seven tunnels in the valley and 19 other areas.

Here are some of the latest pics we're seeing from on the ground:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Tessa Wong
Asia Digital Reporter

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Tunnelling expert Arnold Dix, who has been advising the Nepalese government on how to conduct the rescue, tells me rescuers have tunnelled through 60m of the tunnel, with another 150m to go.

At the end of the tunnel is what he calls the "Goldilocks zone" which would be "more friendly to life".

This is where they hope to find more of the survivors - nearly 40 people are still thought to be trapped in the tunnel.

The "Goldilocks zone" is the uppermost level of the hydropower station where there is some space where survivors may be located.

"We got two people out. If we were playing at a casino, some might say it's time to walk away, but we say game on, time to take on the house," Dix tells me.

You can read more in Tessa Wong's report here.

We can now bring you some more pictures that were shared online by the office of Nepal's prime minister.

They show rescue crews clambering through a dark tunnel to rescue Sanjaya Shah and Kabir Maharjan, who were pulled alive from the Trishuli 3A hydropower site.

Image source, Prime Minister's Secretariat

Image source, Prime Minister's Secretariat

Image source, Nepal Army Handout

Last week's floodwaters washed away a lot of heavy machinery, making it harder for rescuers to unblock tunnels, says a representative for Nepalese power companies.

Uttam Bhlon Lama, vice president at Independent Power Producers of Nepal, tells BBC Newsday that Friday's rescue of two men is "good news" that will "motivate the rescuers to do more".

"The flood level is still very high," Lama adds.

"There could be...other levels of floods so that is why everything is getting delayed."

This morning, Nepalese authorities warned that rainfall may cause additional flooding in the region surrounding the tunnels.

Image source, Reuters

Nepal's army has updated reporters on the latest rescue efforts after two hydropower workers were pulled alive from a tunnel.

Col Jhabindra Reshmi says in total, his teams have have rescued more than 400 Nepali nationals and 270 foreign citizens following the flash flooding on 26 August.

He says troops have been deployed in seven tunnels in the valley and ground troops are in place in 19 other areas.

Col Resmi confirms that efforts continue to reach more workers from the tunnel at Trishuli 3A where two men were pulled alive earlier. Those two survivors have been taken to hospital.

He says mud and rocks have made entering tunnels difficult and rescuers are having to dig access holes to get underground.