Race to free hundreds feared trapped in Nepal’s hydropower tunnels as flood deaths surpass 950

Kathmandu: Rescuers are racing to free hundreds of workers believed to be trapped in tunnels at hydropower sites that were buried in mud by catastrophic flooding on the Nepal-China border, as the death toll climbs and increasingly desperate families search for missing loved ones.

The combined deaths in Nepal and China have now surpassed 950, with more than 4400 people missing. A private-sector association representing power companies said at least 900 workers were unaccounted for at 12 hydropower projects destroyed or damaged by the flash floods in Nepal’s Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts last Wednesday.

About 500 of those workers were believed to be trapped in tunnels. At least one expert said some workers could have access to oxygen, but others warned that the chances of finding survivors were diminishing.

As the rescue efforts intensified, four bodies were recovered from three mud-filled tunnels, Nepal’s army said.

Some workers managed to call for help when the disaster struck, and others who managed to flee reported to authorities and relatives that many of their colleagues were still in the tunnels, said Mohan Kumar Dangi, president of the Independent Power Producers’ Association.

At least 576 people were missing at the $900 million Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in hard-hit Rasuwa district, Dangi said, adding that about 300 were believed to be trapped inside a tunnel.

It was unclear whether rescuers have had any contact with the trapped workers since the initial calls for help. Six days after the disaster, fears are growing that some might have suffocated, Dangi said.

One Trishuli-1 tunnel worker on Monday told this masthead how he was swept about four kilometres through an access shaft until he was spat out alive into a newly formed body of water swirling with debris and equipment.

Dhan Bahadur Tamang explained how he had managed to find his way to another tunnel as the waters receded, but had witnessed “many dead bodies” inside the complex.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Balen Shah said 250 people were rescued over the weekend from around Upper Trishuli-1, where Chinese and South Korean teams are continuing operations.

Rescue workers, part of a 90-member team, reached the main section of a tunnel by Sunday, he added.

The Nepalese Army, with assistance from Chinese experts, is also carrying out rescue efforts at the nearby Upper Trishuli 3B project site, where 122 people are unaccounted for, Shah added.

Crews were working to descend about 15 metres into a tunnel in an effort to reach those believed trapped inside, according to Brigadier General Raja Ram Basnet, Nepal’s army spokesman.

Workers shovelling mud from a flood-ravaged power station in Dhading, Nepal, told the Associated Press that the station was a key connection for providing power to over 20,000 people in the region.