Nepal floods: Inside desperate tunnel rescue as over 100 workers remain trapped
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This screen grab picture from UGC handout video courtesy Nepal's Prime Minister Secretariat taken and released on August 28, 2026 shows the Nepali Army rescuing a person trapped inside a tunnel at a hydropower project following a flash flood in Nepal's Rasuwa district. Photograph: (AFP)
Nepal rescuers are digging through flood-buried hydropower tunnels to reach over 100 trapped workers as rain and rising rivers hamper efforts. The disaster death toll has climbed to 750.
Nepali rescuers resumed a desperate search on Sunday for hydropower workers believed to be trapped inside tunnels buried under flood debris, as difficult weather and swollen rivers continued to hamper operations. The disaster’s death toll has climbed to 750, while more than 3,000 people remain missing in Nepal and Tibet.
Rescue teams have been working for five days since a massive wall of mud and debris swept through the region on Wednesday. Nepal’s government says more than 100 workers could still be alive inside tunnels at several hydropower projects, with operations concentrated on the Trishuli 3A and 3B sites.
At Trishuli 3A, army personnel drilling through the debris broke into the upper section of a mud-filled tunnel late Saturday. Rescuers then began pumping air inside and deployed a camera to search for signs of survivors.
Rain complicates tunnel search
The operation was disrupted overnight when heavy rain sent river waters higher, flooding the excavation zone. Conditions improved later, allowing teams to restart the search.
"As the floodwaters have receded, the team has resumed efforts to locate the tunnel entrance using drilling machines, excavators, hydraulic cutters, and other equipment," the Nepal Army said.
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Rescuers have been forced to work through thick mud and around huge boulders deposited by the floods. The prime minister’s office described the conditions as "difficult" but said teams were "making tireless efforts to search for and rescue those who may be trapped."
Advanced search cameras and specialised monitoring equipment are being used, while tunnel-rescue specialists from India and China have joined the operation.
Power infrastructure badly damaged
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority says 933 hydropower workers are missing.
The US Geological Survey has attributed the disaster along the China-Nepal border to a glacial collapse.
The Nepal Electricity Authority said 11 hydropower stations and a solar power plant have stopped operating, cutting 431.1 megawatts of capacity – around 10 per cent of Nepal’s installed generation capacity. Another 15 projects under construction have also suffered damage.
