Intro: Chinese and Indian experts are helping Nepal search tunnels and underground areas of about half a dozen hydropower projects following the Himalayan flood disaster.
Kathmandu
Nepal’s rescue teams, backed by Chinese and Indian experts, intensified efforts on Monday to reach hundreds of workers believed trapped inside tunnels at hydropower projects after last week’s Himalayan flood.
Officials said 933 workers were believed to be trapped across 11 hydropower projects, many inside tunnels in the hard-hit districts of Rasuwa and Nuwakot. Rescue teams used excavators, searchlights and controlled blasts to clear huge amounts of mud, rocks and water blocking access.
The Nepali army said teams had recovered three bodies after entering two tunnels, while other sections remained buried and continued to be searched. Army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet said the enormous debris deposits were making it difficult to reopen the tunnels, adding that reaching the trapped workers remained the main priority.
The disaster followed a surge of ice, rock, mud and debris through Himalayan valleys and settlements on Wednesday. A glacier collapse is believed to have triggered the flood, which caused destruction in Nepal and across the border in China.
By Monday, Nepal had confirmed 903 deaths and reported 4,247 people missing. Chinese authorities said 16 people had died and 546 were missing in Gyirong County.
Nepal’s foreign ministry said about 590 foreign nationals from 39 countries remained missing, while more than 10,000 people had been rescued from affected areas. The Red Cross estimated that more than 90,000 people were likely affected.
As bodies began decomposing in humid conditions, hundreds of unidentified victims were buried in shallow graves, adding urgency to the continuing rescue and recovery operation.
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