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🇳🇵 Nepal /Disasters & Emergencies

Flood rescue enters critical days as families hope missing relatives are alive

From Kathmandu Post · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Ongoing story
  • Hundreds of workers, engineers and technicians remain unaccounted for after the Bhotekoshi flood hit hydropower projects in Nepal’s Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts.
  • The Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal says 898 people at 11 projects remain out of contact, although authorities have not determined how many may be trapped underground.
  • Families are urging rescuers to search flooded tunnels and underground powerhouses, where some relatives may have survived.

Mithu Khadka keeps calling her husband’s phone, waiting for an answer that never comes. Kamal Khadka, known as Nanu, was working at the under-construction 216-megawatt Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project when the Bhotekoshi flood struck.

The couple last spoke by video call at about 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Two hours later, floodwaters tore through hydropower sites in Rasuwa and Nuwakot. Kamal became one of hundreds of workers, engineers and technicians whose whereabouts remain unknown.

Looking at the mobile screen all the time has hurt my eyes.

— Mithu KhadkaShe described repeatedly calling her missing husband’s phone.

“Looking at the mobile screen all the time has hurt my eyes,” Mithu said. “His name is neither on the list of the missing nor among those who have been found. It feels as though my whole world has disappeared.”

His name is neither on the list of the missing nor among those who have been found. It feels as though my whole world has disappeared.

— Mithu KhadkaShe described the uncertainty surrounding her husband’s fate.

The Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal said 898 people working at 11 hydropower projects, including construction sites, remain out of contact. Authorities have not established how many people were outside when the flood arrived and how many could still be trapped in tunnels or underground powerhouses buried by water, mud and debris.

That uncertainty has left families pressing companies and authorities to search deeper. “Until we see a body, there is hope,” Mithu said. “We have pleaded with the company to search for them. But they say they cannot simply go inside on their own.”

Until we see a body, there is hope.

— Mithu KhadkaShe explained why families continue to press for searches.

Anush Gurung, 20, is searching for his 60-year-old father, Laxman, who worked at Upper Trishuli-1 through the Chinese contractor Sino Hydro. Relatives received conflicting accounts about whether Laxman entered a tunnel before the flood. “Whom are we supposed to believe? If the tunnel is searched, we would know for certain,” Anush said. His last conversation with his father focused on where he should study for his bachelor’s degree. Mobile phones do not work underground.

Whom are we supposed to believe? If the tunnel is searched, we would know for certain.

— Anush GurungHe described conflicting accounts about whether his missing father entered a tunnel.
About this summary

Originally published by Kathmandu Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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