More than 900 workers at various hydropower projects in Nepal are unaccounted for following devastating flash floods on Wednesday, August 26, according to the country’s Independent Power Producers’ Association.
The floods were triggered by the collapse of a glacier near the Nepal-China border, which sent a massive avalanche of ice and rock into the Lhende Khola River. The resulting surge of water, mud and debris swept downstream through the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river systems, destroying homes, roads, bridges and hydropower infrastructure.
About 361 workers have been rescued so far, according to data from the association.
“There has been some success in the ongoing rescue efforts at the Trishuli-3 ‘A’ Hydropower Project tunnel, which was buried under mud and sludge following the flood,” Nepal’s Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, said in an update late on Saturday.
Rescue crews have been using excavators to clear mud and sludge and drilled a 6-inch (15-cm) hole through the upper section of the tunnel, he said. Initial inspections showed no debris inside the tunnel. Crews have since pumped air into the tunnel and introduced light and sound, but have yet to establish communication with anyone inside.
“The plan is now to enlarge the existing hole and create a manhole so that the rescue operation can proceed further,” Shrestha said.
“The current target is to reach the main tunnel through the existing tunnel route by tomorrow,” he added.
Earlier on Friday, the Nepali Army released video showing rescuers saving several people from a hydropower plant tunnel in Rasuwa District. Survivors were seen crawling through thick mud before being carried out by emergency responders.
The Nepali government has requested assistance from tunnel rescue experts in India and China to help free workers trapped inside the tunnel. Teams from both countries arrived in Nepal on Saturday.
The United States is providing more than $3.6 million in humanitarian assistance to Nepal following the devastating floods, the State Department said on Saturday, increasing its earlier pledge of $500,000 announced two days earlier.
“The United States is standing with the people of Nepal by providing more than $3.6 million worth of life-saving humanitarian assistance, including up to three months of emergency food assistance to up to 10,000 flood-affected households,” the State Department said on X.
The department said U.S. embassies in Nepal and China were working closely to assist American citizens and support disaster relief efforts.
The State Department announced on Thursday that the United States was “quickly deploying” $500,000 in assistance to affected communities.
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