Many trapped workers may still be alive at Nepal hydropower plant, official says

Rescuers in Nepal believe 46 workers trapped for a week inside an underground chamber at the Rasuwagadhi hydropower plant may still be alive. Nepal Electricity Authority board member Amhsu Kiran Shahi said the workers were likely to have food and water inside the structure.

The plant lies in Rasuwa district, in a mountain valley about five kilometers from Nepal’s border with China. It suffered damage in flash floods triggered by a glacial collapse that sent ice, rock, mud and debris through the area.

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In Rasuwagadhi, we think 46 people are trapped in a room-like structure in the tunnel.

Nepali authorities have rescued 279 people from hydropower projects hit by the floods. At least 639 others remain missing, and some are believed to be trapped in tunnels connected to the projects. Nepalese, Indian and Chinese rescue teams are searching for survivors.

Rasuwagadhi is the only affected project where rescuers can walk through a tunnel, Shahi said. The army tried to enter three days earlier but did not locate the chamber. “We are going in again,” he said.

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We are very confident that they must be alive after one week because they have food and water over there in the building.

Teams are also searching the Upper Trishuli 3A facility. Rescuers needed almost six days to find its tunnels beneath thick mud and are now trying to break into a dry space where survivors may be sheltering. Shahi said Nepal was using all available technology and receiving assistance from Indian, Chinese and Korean teams, as well as experts from Australia.

The disaster generated at least 2.2 million tons of debris, according to a preliminary United Nations Development Programme estimate. The material includes building fragments, rocks and sediment.

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We are going in again.