How engineers in a WhatsApp group are guiding Nepal’s tunnel rescue efforts

A WhatsApp group set up by engineers before disaster struck has become an important tool in Nepal’s search for survivors trapped inside tunnels at devastated hydropower plants.

The group is helping rescue workers scour the Trishuli valley alongside helicopters and heavy machinery. A wall of water, mud and rock crashed down the valley on Aug. 26, damaging hydropower facilities and leaving about 900 people reported missing from six plants.

At least three of the plants were under construction. Authorities believe some workers may have escaped the flood by reaching tunnels or fleeing into them. Finding the entrances to several tunnels has proved difficult, but the search received its first clear sign of success on Friday.

Two people were brought out alive from a tunnel connected to the Upper Trishuli 3A hydropower plant, nine days after the disaster. One of the rescued people said more survivors could be inside the tunnels, keeping rescue teams focused on the search.