Everest veterans and elite guides crawl into flooded tunnel to search for six trapped workers

Following devastating floods in Rasuwa district, veteran Everest climbers and highly trained Nepalese mountain guides were deployed to the Chilime hydropower tunnel, where six people are believed to be trapped. Guides Ashish Gurung, Dorjee Sherpa and six-time Everest summit veteran Jenjen Lama entered the tunnel protected by fixed ropes, advancing roughly 120 m before thick sludge forced a stop. During the search they recovered a camera bag and concluded that pumping equipment and excavation will be required to reach further.

The Chilime effort is one component of a larger tunnel rescue, with estimates of about 300 workers possibly stranded in the Upper Trishuli-1 system, comprising Nepalese, Indian, Chinese and South Korean staff. The Nepal Mountaineering Guides Association and the Nepal Mountaineering Instructors Association have also mobilized helicopter longline and ground teams to navigate the flood-damaged terrain. The rescue highlights the use of high-altitude climbing techniques in a disaster setting where conventional access routes have been wiped out.