Nepal rescue teams reach hydropower sites after deadly floods

Rescuers in Nepal are digging through mud and rock at ruined hydropower stations, where hundreds of workers remain trapped nearly a week after devastating floods swept across the country’s towns and valleys.

Temporary bridges have opened routes into remote areas, while teams use earth-moving equipment and torchlight to search through debris and tunnels. Prime Minister Balendra Shah said 279 workers had been rescued from hydropower projects. Authorities estimate that close to 1,000 people were trapped at the sites, leaving about 600 still stuck.

The disaster has killed at least 939 people, Shah said in a late-night social media post. Police official Bipin Regmi said a search team recovered 24 bodies from a house in Betrabati village in Nuwakot district. “We are reaching new areas and recovering bodies,” Regmi told Reuters.

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We are reaching new areas and recovering bodies.

Road networks have been restored to Nuwakot, one of the worst-affected districts, helping rescue teams reach communities and deliver relief supplies. Shah said more than 11,000 people had been rescued across the affected region, with electricity and communications restored in some areas.

A glacier collapse sent ice, rock and mud through Nepal’s border region with China. India and China are helping with rescue work, including the construction of Bailey bridges. Shah said aid worth more than $42 million had entered the country and that contributions were expected to rise.

Hydropower stations have become the main focus because Nepal’s mountainous projects rely on tunnels to carry water through steep terrain. The country has expanded hydropower since the start of the century to address domestic power shortages and pursue electricity sales to India. Shah said thousands of citizens had lost homes, families and property, and that the government would support rehabilitation.

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Thousands of citizens have lost their homes, families, loved ones and property.