Nepal races to rescue at least 933 workers feared trapped in hydropower tunnels after deadly floods

KATHMANDU: Rescue teams in Nepal worked through the night to reach hundreds of workers feared trapped inside blocked hydropower tunnels after a massive Himalayan flood killed nearly 800 people and left more than 3,000 missing.

Nepali teams, assisted by Chinese and Indian experts, focused on clearing mud, rocks and debris from around half a dozen hydropower projects in the flood-hit region.

Nepal’s disaster management authority said 933 people working at hydropower projects were reported missing following Wednesday’s unprecedented deluge along the Nepal-Tibet border. The disaster sent torrents of ice, rock, mud and debris through towns and villages in Nepal and across the border into China.

The flooding has been blamed on a glacier collapse.

Rescue footage showed earth-moving machinery operating under floodlights as workers dug through thick layers of mud and rocks in an effort to reach the blocked tunnels. Soldiers were also seen using torches while searching for possible entry points.

Meanwhile, hundreds of unidentified bodies have been buried in shallow graves as authorities struggle to identify victims amid hot and humid conditions in Nepal’s plains.

Nearly 21,000 security personnel have been deployed for rescue and relief operations. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimates that more than 90,000 people have been affected by the disaster.

China has attributed the disaster to glacier instability linked to global warming, highlighting growing concerns over the impact of climate change on the Himalayan region.

Complete assessment of damage challenging: Nepal PM

“A large amount of debris has been deposited and that is posing us a big challenge to open the tunnels,” Nepal army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet told Reuters. “Our main focus is on opening the tunnels.”

Prime Minister Balendra Shah said the flood was an “unprecedented and devastating natural disaster” and it remained challenging to compile a complete assessment of the damage.

“Despite the adverse weather, difficult terrain and continuing risks, we are moving forward with determination to save the lives of our citizens,” he said in a Facebook post late on Sunday, adding that nearly 21,000 security personnel were involved in the rescue operations, besides civilian workers and volunteers.

Nepali authorities said 788 had died, with 2,500 missing, including the more than 900 people at hydropower projects, as of Sunday night. On the Chinese side, authorities said 16 people were killed in Gyirong County and 546 were missing.

Beijing has said 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries were unaccounted for in Tibet, near a key border crossing with Nepal.

China’s state-run CCTV reported Beijing has mobilised more than 2,100 rescue workers and allocated at least 220 million yuan ($33 million) to support relief efforts and has been airdropping equipment and supplies to frontline rescuers, while its soldiers used life-detection equipment to look for the missing.

Survivors look to salvage belongings

Although Nepal has said that it does not need foreign help in general rescue and search, it has leaned on giant neighbours India and China for their expertise in tunnel rescue.

Rescue operations have been suspended several times since Friday because of bad weather and concerns that a lake formed across the Nepal-China border by the disaster could trigger fresh flooding after it began overflowing into Nepal’s rivers.

The weather was good on Monday and rescue work continued to pick up pace, said Narendra Pariyar, the district administrator of Rasuwa, one of the two hard-hit districts.

In the holy town of Devighat, on the banks of the Trishuli river that was flooded, residents walked around the shells of what had once been homes, trying to salvage their belongings from the debris.

The flood was “caused by glacier instability under the long-term effects of global warming”, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported, saying it was a “new and prominent feature of cryosphere disasters” on the Tibetan plateau.

Two Nepali officials told Reuters that China had not shared much information on glacier risks and water levels following a meeting to strengthen cooperation earlier this year, and they feared that a lack of data sharing could hamper future disaster preparedness. China’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the meeting.

The mudslide from the Nepalese side took six to seven minutes to reach the Gyirong border crossing, CCTV said, citing the findings of Chinese scientists. Dramatic surveillance footage shared worldwide showed torrents of water and debris engulfing buildings while people tried to flee.