“We’re Coming to Get Them”: Rescuers Hope Tunnels Sheltered Workers After Nepal Floods

Rescuers searching for workers trapped underground after catastrophic floods in Nepal are focusing on larger spaces inside hydropower complexes, where some people may have taken shelter.

The floods came down from the China-Nepal border with the force of a tsunami, pushing the confirmed death toll above 900 and leaving more than 4,247 people missing. Nepali officials believe 933 workers are trapped at 11 hydropower projects in the districts of Rasuwa and Nuwakot.

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There’s probably more water, rocks and things in it than we were hoping for. And we’re now rethinking how we access that tunnel and also how we access the powerhouse.

At the Trishuli 3A hydropower site, where more than 40 people were reported trapped, teams located one tunnel and used explosives to break through its roof. They have not yet found anyone there. Arnold Dix, an Australian geologist and tunnel specialist assisting Nepali authorities, said the area being accessed was close to the point where the flood struck with extreme force.

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That’s what we’re pinning our hopes on at the moment.

Dix said rescuers are now considering routes into larger sections of the complex, including areas around the turbines and control rooms. Those spaces may have offered workers shelter. “That’s what we’re pinning our hopes on at the moment,” he said, adding that conditions and plans were changing as new data came in. “We’re banking that we still have time.”

Teams have used excavators, searchlights, controlled blasts, satellite images and computer models to clear water, mud and debris. Helicopters are carrying equipment to areas isolated by destroyed roads. Dix said technology would help, but the search would ultimately depend on rescuers moving through the tunnels with shovels. “In the end, it’s about people helping other people.”

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We’re banking that we still have time.

Dix, who also assisted in the 2023 rescue of 41 workers trapped in India’s Silkyara Tunnel, said the Nepal operation presents a different challenge. In India, rescuers dealt with a collapsed tunnel. In Nepal, the tunnels remain standing while the surrounding world has been devastated. The rock conditions are also harsher, ranging from mud to rocks “the size of a house.”

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In the end, it’s about people helping other people.