Nepal rescue teams focus on workers trapped in three hydropower tunnels

Rescuers in Nepal are focusing on three hydropower tunnels where authorities believe dozens of workers could still be trapped, two weeks after a devastating flood killed hundreds and left thousands missing in Nepal and neighboring Tibet.

The flood began when a glacier collapsed into a river along the Nepal-China border on Aug. 26. At least 11 hydropower projects were engulfed, with debris and mud burying tunnel entrances and cutting off people inside.

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Our search operation is focused on finding survivors, including in tunnels. Our bigger focus is on the Chilime hydroelectric project, where we believe people are trapped, because there was a canteen, residency and arrangements for food.

Dharma Raj Upreti, chief of Nepal’s disaster authority, said the Chilime hydroelectric project had become the main focus because it included a canteen, accommodation and food arrangements. Search teams are also working at the Upper Trishuli 3A and 3B projects, whose tunnels are interconnected. Oxygen has been sent through pipes, along with new equipment intended to help open a passage.

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Oxygen has been supplied to these tunnels through pipes and we have sent new equipment needed for the operation to open a passage into them.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah has vowed to maintain the rescue effort. Army rescuers estimate that about 121 of the 900 people missing from the hydropower projects may have been trapped in tunnels, while others may have been working elsewhere at the plants.

Four people have been rescued in recent days, including a Chinese national pulled from a tunnel and two hydropower workers rescued from another tunnel. A Nepali woman was also rescued from her buried home. The overall toll in Nepal and Tibet stands at at least 1,399 dead and more than 5,400 missing. Both countries have blamed climate change for the glacier collapse that triggered the flooding.

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We know our responsibility and its sensitivity. We are translating the humanitarian spirit of the Nepali people into practice through the search and rescue operation.