Key facts
- Hundreds of workers are feared trapped in hydropower tunnels in Nepal following a devastating flash flood.
- Rescuers are using explosives to blast into the hillside and pump air into tunnels at the Trishuli-3A site.
- The death toll from the flood disaster has reached 939, with 3,925 people missing.
- An international team of Chinese and Nepalese military personnel, along with experts from India, Korea, and Australia, is leading the rescue.
- Makeshift burials are taking place in Chitwan for unidentified bodies brought to river banks by the floods.
Rescuers in Nepal are using explosives to blast into hillsides in a desperate search for hundreds of workers believed to be trapped in mud-filled hydropower tunnels along the Trishuli River. Families are anxiously awaiting news as the death toll from the devastating flash flood, which occurred on the Nepal-Tibet border, has reached 939, with nearly 4,000 people missing. The disaster management authority revised its missing estimate to 3,925, including 592 foreign nationals, with approximately one in seven believed to be hydropower workers.
An international team comprising Chinese and Nepalese military personnel, alongside experts from India, Korea, and Australia, is spearheading the rescue efforts. Rescuers are pumping air into the tunnels, but families express frustration over the slow pace, fearing the critical window for survivors is closing. Some hold onto hope due to internal oxygen systems. The floods have severely damaged at least 11 hydropower projects, impacting Nepal's power capacity.
Meanwhile, in Chitwan district, makeshift burials are being conducted for nearly 300 unidentified bodies recovered from river banks, with DNA extraction underway. In Tibet, 16 deaths and 546 missing persons have been reported, with information heavily censored by Chinese authorities.