Rescuers dig into tunnel as Nepal-China flood missing toll nears 3,000

Rescuers in Nepal have begun sending air into a tunnel where workers may be trapped, after soldiers inserted a pipe through a small opening at the Trishuli 3A hydroelectric site. More than 100 workers may still be alive inside tunnels at the Trishuli 3A and 3B projects, according to the report.

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started sending air through the small opening

The rescue effort unfolded as teams in Nepal and China searched for thousands of people missing after a wall of water and debris swept through Himalayan villages. Figures from both countries put the missing toll close to 3,000, while 691 bodies had been recovered. Some victims may have been carried downstream as far as India.

The disaster struck on Wednesday morning at the China-Nepal border after a glacial collapse sent water and debris downstream, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Rain and rising river levels slowed operations on Sunday, prompting Nepal’s disaster authorities to warn rescue teams to proceed cautiously.

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The sudden glacial collapse and flash flood is a devastating reminder of how fragile these mountain environments can be

Survivors faced a painful wait for news of relatives and the prospect of rebuilding homes and communities from nothing. “All the settlements near the river were swept away,” Buddhi Ram Dangol told AFP in Nepal’s Nuwakot district. “There is nothing left.”

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All the settlements near the river were swept away

At an army base in Bidur, relatives searched lists of rescued people posted on a wall. “I have come here looking for my son,” Kalka Sharda said. Nepal’s disaster authority listed 933 hydropower workers among the missing, along with 517 foreigners, including trekkers and Hindu pilgrims traveling to Mount Kailash. The United States and Canada each pledged $3.6 million in humanitarian aid, while Britain, the United Nations, the European Union and other organizations also offered funding.

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I have come here looking for my son