Nepali rescuers seeking to reach hydropower workers believed trapped in tunnels swamped by flood debris have resumed work after rain and rising river waters hampered efforts.
Nepal’s government says more than 100 workers may still be alive and trapped inside multiple tunnels at hydropower projects, with key rescue efforts focused on the Trishuli 3A and 3B sites.
Huge flash floods triggered on Wednesday when part of a glacier collapsed near Nepal’s border with Tibet have left at least 750 people dead and more than 3,000 missing.
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority says there are 933 hydropower workers among the missing.
At Trishuli 3A in Nepal’s Rasuwa District on Saturday evening, army rescue teams using drills broke through into the upper part of a mud-swamped tunnel and began pumping air as well as sending in a camera.
But overnight rain and rising river waters hampered efforts early on Sunday, filling the excavation area with water before conditions eased.
“As the floodwaters have receded, the team has resumed efforts to locate the tunnel entrance using drilling machines, excavators, hydraulic cutters and other equipment,” said a Nepal Army statement on Sunday.
