Nepal Rescue Teams Race Against Time to Reach Hundreds Trapped in Hydropower Tunnels After Flash Flood

Rescue teams in Nepal have intensified operations to reach more than 600 workers believed to be trapped inside blocked hydropower tunnels following a deadly flash flood last week. According to Nepali officials, recovery efforts are heavily concentrated on 11 hydropower projects across the country, particularly in the severely affected Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts.

Visuals shared by rescue units depicted heavy machinery being deployed to clear massive amounts of mud and rock in the dark. Raja Ram Basnet, a Nepalese army spokesman, told Reuters that large deposits of debris are creating major hurdles in clearing the passageways.

The catastrophe began when a glacial collapse sent a devastating wave of ice, rock, mud, and debris across the border between Nepal and China's Tibet region. The disaster has resulted in at least 955 deaths and left 4,471 people missing in both Nepal and China combined. Nepal specifically reported 939 deaths and 3,925 missing individuals, while Chinese authorities confirmed 16 deaths and 546 missing persons in Tibet’s Gyirong county.

The Independent Power Producers’ Association in Nepal noted that key infrastructure, including multiple hydropower projects, suffered extensive damage. Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority reported that approximately 11,400 people have been rescued so far, with over 21,000 security personnel mobilized for assistance. Data from the authority confirmed that 639 individuals remained missing from hydropower sites as of Monday evening.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah characterized the incident as an unprecedented and devastating natural disaster, noting that authorities are struggling to establish a comprehensive damage assessment. Nepal has experienced a significant surge in hydropower development to utilize its Himalayan water resources for domestic needs and electricity exports to India. However, these mountain projects heavily depend on tunnels running through steep terrain—the exact tunnels now central to the ongoing rescue mission.

Search operations have experienced frequent interruptions due to adverse weather and the threat of secondary flooding from an overflowing lake created by the initial deluge. To bolster relief efforts in Rasuwa, the South Korean Foreign Ministry announced that a 44-member emergency relief team will arrive on Tuesday following an official request from Nepal.

Arnold Dix, a tunnel rescue geologist advising on approximately six hydropower project tunnel rescues in the country, emphasized the overwhelming scale of the crisis. He stated that the multiplicity of disasters combined with limited resources has severely complicated the search operations.