Rescuers are using explosives to blast into a hillside in Nepal in a desperate attempt to reach over 600 workers believed to be trapped in mud-filled tunnels along the Trishuli River. The operation at the Trishuli-3A site is ongoing, with rescuers pumping air into the tunnels as fears grow that a critical window to find survivors is closing.
Anushila Bhandari, wife of missing engineer Aurus Bhandari, expressed her hope: "I wish we could find him. I wish he would come home." The death toll from the disaster on the Nepal-Tibet border has reached 939, with the number of missing revised to 3,925, including 592 foreign nationals. Approximately one in seven missing individuals are thought to be workers at hydropower plants. Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah reported that 279 people have been rescued from the sites so far.
The rescue effort is a collaborative international endeavor, involving Chinese and Nepalese military personnel, with additional experts from India, Korea, and Australia.
"I still have a 50% hope that he is alive because there is an oxygen system inside," said Sita Pandey, whose husband was working at a plant when the floods struck. Nepal, heavily reliant on hydropower, has seen at least 11 projects damaged by the floods.
Rescuers began pumping air into a tunnel over the weekend, but families of the trapped workers argue this should have been done sooner. A team entered a tunnel leading to one plant on Monday but found no one. "The longer it takes, the more our hope dies. This operation must move much faster because every second is meaningful to us," stated Jiban Khadka, whose relative is trapped. He described the operation as "frustratingly slow."
Prime Minister Shah assured that rescue operations have been "intensified," with 11,379 people rescued to date. Priya Kharel, whose brother Milan was an engineer at the Upper Trishuli-1 plant, remains hopeful: "Those who returned from the hydropower site said there were people inside the tunnel. So there is hope that if the army reaches them quickly, they can be saved."
Australian engineer Arnold Dix, advising on the search remotely, noted the difficulty in locating the tunnels due to the landscape's drastic alteration, describing it as a "lunar landscape." He explained that once the power stations are located, the focus shifts to digging and "blasting boulders" to gain access. Dix expressed some optimism for those trapped, suggesting the underground environment might have offered protection.
Meanwhile, in Chitwan, downstream from the initial flood impact, makeshift burials are underway for nearly 300 bodies recovered from the river systems. The area is overwhelmed, with temporary burial sites established due to a lack of freezer capacity. Ganesh Aryaal, the chief district officer, confirmed that relatives can still claim remains for identification via DNA testing.
In Tibet, the official death toll is 16, with 546 missing. Chinese state media reports that speculation online about higher casualty numbers has led to "administrative penalties." Nepalese authorities have also ordered the removal of online content deemed misinformation regarding the floods.
