Rescue crews in Nepal are racing to reach hundreds of hydropower workers believed trapped inside mountain tunnels as the death toll from last week’s catastrophic flooding continues to rise.
Nepal’s disaster management agency said Monday that 903 bodies have been recovered, with some victims found as far as 150 miles from where the flooding began Wednesday. Nearly 4,250 people remain missing across the country.
The disaster also struck neighboring Tibet, where Chinese authorities have reported at least 16 deaths and about 550 people missing.
More than 20,000 Nepalese army, police and paramilitary personnel are participating in rescue operations. More than 9,000 people have been evacuated, many by helicopter.
Some of the most difficult rescue efforts are underway at hydroelectric projects, where tunnels were buried beneath dozens of feet of mud and debris.
The flooding began after part of a glacier broke away in the Langtang mountain range near Nepal’s border with China, triggering an avalanche of rock and ice and sending a debris-filled torrent through valleys below.
At the Upper Trishuli 3A hydropower project in Nuwakot, army engineers used a controlled explosion to gain access to a tunnel. Excavators airlifted to the site cleared about 30 feet of mud and debris. Rescuers entered through another opening Sunday but received no response after calling for survivors.
At a second hydropower tunnel, rescue crews reached about 330 feet inside before hitting a complete blockage.
Experts from India, China and South Korea have joined the rescue effort, along with geologists and other specialists. About 280 hydropower workers have been rescued so far.
Foreign visitors are also among the missing. More than 500 foreign tourists were reported missing in Nepal, while about 260 foreign nationals were missing in China. About 80 Americans are unaccounted for in Nepal and Tibet, many of whom had traveled to the region on pilgrimages to lakes considered sacred by Hindus and Buddhists.
Conditions remain dangerous on both sides of the border. At China’s Gyirong Port, floodwaters destroyed roads and communications infrastructure and left parts of the valley buried beneath more than 40 feet of mud. No survivors had been found there as of Monday.
Source: WSJ