Rescue teams in Nepal are racing against time to save more than 900 hydropower workers trapped in underground tunnels across multiple power projects after devastating flash floods hit the region last week. The catastrophic event has claimed nearly 940 lives in Nepal, with additional casualties reported in Tibet. Thousands remain missing on both sides of the border, adding urgency to the dire situation.
In the hardest-hit areas of Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts, approximately 500 workers are believed to be stuck within the hydropower site tunnels. As efforts to rescue them continue, experts express concern over decreasing oxygen levels, which are diminishing the likelihood of finding survivors. Survivors of the flooding have recounted how many colleagues were unable to escape and remain trapped.
Rescue operations face significant challenges due to destroyed infrastructure, such as bridges, and the unpredictable nature of river flooding and the terrain. Crews are heavily relying on helicopters for access, while neighboring countries have provided temporary bridge equipment to help restore connectivity. Rescue teams have resorted to blasting tunnels obstructed by massive debris to reach trapped individuals. Meanwhile, the disaster has severely impacted the country’s power generation capacity.
Conditions inside the tunnels are described as harrowing, with rescuers encountering mud as deep as chest-height and extremely limited visibility. Despite these grim circumstances, there is cautious optimism that some workers may have found shelter in safe zones within the tunnels. The broader disaster has affected tens of thousands, destroying whole communities and intensifying concerns over the impact of climate change on glacial and mountainous areas. Nepal’s government has labeled the floods an unprecedented natural disaster, with a massive response involving tens of thousands of security personnel and volunteers.
International assistance has flowed into Nepal, featuring specialized rescue teams, financial aid, and technical support from neighboring nations, underscoring the crisis’s magnitude. Amid the destruction, one notable rescue involved a young child being pulled alive from the mud, providing a glimmer of hope. Additionally, there are growing concerns about the exchange of glacier and water-level data between countries in the region, as officials fear that gaps in this information could impair future disaster readiness.