Rasuwa floods: Rescue teams push into dangerous hydropower tunnels

A week after catastrophic flooding along Nepal’s Bhotekoshi River, rescuers are still pushing into tunnels where large rocks, debris and rising water have made every metre difficult.

The Nepali Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and rescue teams from other countries are coordinating the search in Rasuwa. Army Headquarters said rescuers had reached about 150 metres inside the Rasuwa Garhi Hydropower tunnel by Wednesday morning, but large rocks blocked further progress. Operations were being resumed.

A joint team of 25 rescuers, including foreign personnel, had also entered the Langtang Hydropower tunnel and advanced roughly 150 metres. Teams were working at Chilime Hydropower, while a Nepali Army unit continued operations at Upper Trishuli 1 in Haku.

At Trishuli-3A, 93 personnel, including Nepali Army members, were clearing debris with three excavators and a Bobcat. After using a compressor, breaker and blasting operations, they located the tunnel outlet. Rainfall left about 1.5 metres of water inside overnight, forcing the team to pump it out.

At Trishuli-3B, 61 army personnel, three civilians and the project’s managing director were conducting the search. They identified the project office and residential area, then used an excavator to build an access route toward the site.