Race to reach trapped workers
Rescue teams in Nepal worked through the night and into Monday to reach hundreds of workers believed to be trapped inside blocked hydropower tunnels, following last week's catastrophic flooding that has killed more than 900 people across Nepal and China, with nearly 5,000 still missing.
Nepali officials said the focus was on reaching hundreds of workers believed to be stuck in about half a dozen hydropower project tunnels blocked by mud and rock debris. The Independent Power Producers' Association, Nepal (IPPAN), a private-sector group representing power companies, said at least 900 workers have been unaccounted for from 12 hydropower projects damaged by the floods in Nepal's Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts.
Mohan Kumar Dangi, president of IPPAN, estimated that at least 500 of the 900 missing workers were trapped in the tunnels. He said some workers had managed to make contact and call for help when the disaster struck last Wednesday, and some who managed to flee reported that many of their colleagues were still inside. But six days on, he said, fears grew that some might have suffocated.
In the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Rasuwa district alone, at least 576 people were missing, with around 300 believed trapped inside the project's tunnel, according to Dangi. Nepal's disaster management authority said 933 people were missing from hydropower projects in the flood-hit region.
Rescue operations and challenges
Nepal's army spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet, said search-and-rescue teams were using controlled blasts, excavators, and search lights to clear water and mud to reach trapped people. "A large amount of debris has been deposited and that is posing us a big challenge to open the tunnels," he said.
Rescue operations have been suspended several times since Friday because of bad weather and concerns that a lake formed across the Nepal-China border could trigger fresh flooding. The Nepali army said search-and-rescue teams were using controlled blasts, excavators, and search lights to clear water and mud.
Jakob Steiner, a geoscientist at the University of Graz in Austria, said the tunnels are big enough to drive trucks through and provide enough space for people to take refuge safely inside. "It's a race for time though as people need food and water," he said.
Workers shoveling mud from a flood-ravaged power station in Dhading, Nepal, told The Associated Press that the station is a key node for providing power to over 20,000 people in the region. They said they hope it is not rebuilt near the river.
Death toll and missing
On Monday, Nepali authorities said 903 people had died in that country, with 4,247 missing, including 592 foreigners. On the Chinese side, authorities reported 16 deaths in Gyirong County and 546 missing. Chinese state media said 261 of the missing were foreigners, including over a hundred Nepalis.
Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah described the flood as an "unprecedented and devastating natural disaster" and said nearly 21,000 security personnel were involved in rescue operations, besides civilian workers and volunteers.
The Red Cross has estimated that more than 90,000 people are likely to have been affected by the disaster.
Hundreds of bodies, many unidentified, have been buried in shallow graves in the plains of Nepal after being swept down by the torrent, as they began decomposing in the humid weather.
Chinese response and international aid
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing is making every effort to search for missing people following the disaster. China has been airdropping equipment and supplies to frontline rescuers and using life-detection equipment to look for the missing, as reported by China's state broadcaster CCTV.
Beijing has said 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries remain unaccounted for in Tibet, near a key border crossing with Nepal. China's state-run CCTV reported that Beijing has mobilised more than 2,100 rescue workers and allocated at least 220 million yuan (about $33 million) to support relief efforts.
China has linked the disaster to the effects of climate change. CCTV reported that the flood was "caused by glacier instability under the long-term effects of global warming." China has also been rebuilding the road leading to Gyirong Port at the border between China and Nepal, which is now under some 2 to 3 meters of water, hampering rescuers' ability to reach the border.
Authorities are monitoring an impact crater carved out near the site of the glacier collapse, which by Saturday evening had expanded to 174,000 square metres. The crater has an estimated reservoir of 5 million cubic metres, which if breached could lead to a chain reaction to lakes further downstream. CCTV said there is risk of further landslides along the river that could create additional lakes, as investigators identified eight high-risk locations for geological disasters.
Nepal has leaned on India and China for their expertise in tunnel rescue. Meanwhile, on the Chinese side, rescue and recovery efforts included rebuilding the road leading to Gyirong Port.
Personal stories and expert analysis
Maraval Nagappan traveled to Nepal to search for his son, Sathya Narayan, who was among the missing. His son had been leading a group of 49 Indian devotees returning from Mount Kailash, and the group has been missing since floodwaters swept through a Chinese immigration complex where they were waiting to cross into Nepal. Nagappan, who owns the Chennai-based travel company that organized the pilgrimage, said the group had been expected to complete immigration formalities and leave for Nepal within about two hours. "I haven't heard from my son since then. I don't know whether he is alive or dead," he told The Associated Press. Surveillance footage showed water surging through the immigration complex at the border as people scrambled to escape.
Wednesday's flash floods started after a glacial collapse high in the Himalayan region. Scientists who studied satellite images said bedrock underneath a glacier had collapsed, taking part of the glacier with it. The rockfall registered as a magnitude 2 seismic event, swelling rivers and causing torrents that swept buildings, bridges and earth downstream in Tibet and Nepal.