Rescue teams dig for trapped hydropower workers in Nepal's flood-hit mountains
After a massive ice, rock and mud flow swept through Nepal’s border region, rescuers are working around the clock to reach more than 900 hydropower workers feared trapped in underground tunnels.
A catastrophic surge of ice, rock, mud and water last Wednesday devastated flood-prone districts along Nepal’s border with Tibet, burying the entrances to dozens of hydropower tunnels and leaving more than 900 workers potentially trapped underground. The flash flood eliminated 27 power stations, with 12 completely destroyed, prompting rescuers to focus on subterranean spaces that may have survived the impact. Arnold Dix, a Melbourne-based geologist and engineer, is on the ground providing technical guidance and estimating that any survivors could live for as long as 17 days in the “Goldilocks zone” - the highest, air-filled section of the 11-storey underground powerhouses.
Searches are underway at sites such as Trishuli 3A and Chilime, where mountain guide Jenjen Lama and drone pilot Manish Maharjan are helping map tunnel layouts. Rescue teams face severe challenges from mud-filled entrances, collapsed hillsides, and limited helicopter lift capacity, forcing them to rely on hand tools and small-scale drilling to reach the likely survivor zones.
Why it matters
The effort highlights the human toll of extreme weather on critical energy infrastructure and the difficulty of underground rescues.
How this story developed
- Aug 27 Flash Floods from Glacial Collapse Leave Hundreds Dead and Thousands Missing on Nepal-Tibet Border
- Aug 31 Updated casualty figures show 734 deaths and 2,498 missing in Nepal, with 16 deaths and 546 missing in Tibet.
- Aug 31 Stage‑four water restrictions were enacted after the Transcanyon waterline was destroyed.
- Aug 31 Drilling and air‑pumping operations at the Trishuli‑3A tunnel have begun to free trapped workers.
- Aug 31 The number of missing persons in Nepal has risen to about 4,200.
- Sep 1 Death toll rose to at least 950 and missing counts climbed to over 4,400, including about 80 Americans and up to 43 Australians.
- Sep 1 A second fatality was confirmed, bringing the death toll to two.
- Sep 1 A rapid hazard assessment found satellite images showed glacier changes days before the deadly avalanche and flash flood that trapped hundreds of construction workers in Nepal.
- Sep 1 An Australian survivor was located, reducing the number of missing Australians to 42.
- Sep 1 Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths in Tibet and 546 people still missing on the Chinese side of the disaster.
- Sep 1 John Giusti identified as the deceased victim and a third companion, Timothy Smith, remains missing.
- Sep 1 Two victims identified and rescue operations reported to have saved about 80 people.
- Sep 2 South Rim hotels and lodges were ordered to close indefinitely because of the water outage.
- Sep 2 A scientific review released new findings on pre‑event signals in the glacier collapse.
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