DistantNews
Support us
🇳🇵 Nepal /Disasters & Emergencies

Silence Underground Does Not Mean Death, Tunnel Expert Dix Says

From Kathmandu Post · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Rescue operations continue at Nepalese hydropower tunnels after floods killed 1,252 people and left more than 4,000 missing, according to police figures cited by the newspaper.
  • Tunnel expert Arnold Dix says Trishuli 3A remains a rescue operation because people may still be alive underground, while teams work to clear water, boulders and mud.
  • Dix cited successful rescues in Chile, Thailand and India as reasons not to abandon the search.

“Silence is not evidence of death,” tunnel expert Arnold Dix wrote as rescue teams searched Nepal’s flood-hit hydropower plants. “It is only the absence of a signal.”

Dix is remotely assisting the rescue operation at the Trishuli 3A hydropower plant, where dozens of people are feared trapped. He said tunnels can remain sheltered, thermally stable and capable of preserving breathable air after the surface has been devastated. He described the operation at Trishuli 3A as a rescue, not a recovery.

A tunnel is an engineered environment: sheltered from weather, comparatively thermally stable, and potentially capable of preserving breathable air and survivable refuge after everything above has been devastated.

· Arnold DixHe explains why people trapped underground might survive longer than expected after a flood.

Police had confirmed 1,252 deaths by Thursday afternoon, while more than 4,000 people remained missing. The floods affected more than 2.5 million people downstream of the Nepal-Tibet border, where the disaster began. Hundreds of workers were missing inside more than a dozen hydropower tunnels along the Bhotekoshi river.

The operation at Trishuli 3A is proceeding as a rescue, not a recovery.

· Arnold DixHe emphasizes that teams are still searching for possible survivors rather than only retrieving bodies.

Dix said video recorded above Trishuli 3A showed about 30 additional people moving toward the tunnels and seeking shelter. He called that evidence that people may have headed toward an environment that offered protection. Once rescuers drain the water and establish access, they plan to excavate toward the powerhouses.

The expert compared the scale of the search to “23 Silkyaras going on at the same time,” referring to the 2023 tunnel rescue in India that made him widely known there. He also cited the survival of 33 Chilean miners for 69 days underground and the rescue of 12 boys and their coach from Thailand’s Tham Luang cave after nine days. At Trishuli 3A, rescuers have encountered huge boulders and mud after the tunnel entrance fell beneath the river. Dix said the army used explosives to clear the rocks, despite the usual risks of blasting during a tunnel rescue.

Silence is not evidence of death. It is only the absence of a signal.

· Arnold DixHe argues that a lack of communication should not end the search.
About this summary

Originally published by Kathmandu Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog