Nepal races to rescue trapped workers as flash flood death toll tops 900

Nepali rescue teams, supported by Chinese and Indian experts, are racing to save more than 900 workers believed to be trapped underground at hydropower projects affected by a devastating flash flood.

Nepali officials said Monday that the focus is now on accessing about a dozen hydropower tunnels blocked by mud and debris. The unprecedented flood of ice, rocks, mud, and debris at the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday, triggered by a glacial collapse, has left 903 people dead and 4,247 missing in Nepal, according to the country's disaster management authority.

The flooding also caused severe damage across the border in China's Tibet region, where at least 16 people have died and 546 are missing, according to Chinese authorities.

Major challenges

Images and videos shared by rescue teams show excavators digging through mud and rocks under floodlights in the dark. Soldiers can be seen using flashlights in a large pit to find a way into a tunnel.

“A huge amount of debris has accumulated, posing a major challenge to open the tunnels,” Nepali army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet told Reuters. “Our main focus is to open the tunnels.”

Hundreds of bodies, many unidentified, have been buried in shallow graves as they began decomposing in the wet weather after being swept down the mountains by the floodwaters.

At hospitals in the capital Kathmandu, morgues have been overwhelmed, and many families are rushing to other hospitals hoping to find missing relatives. In addition to the 933 missing hydropower workers, about 500 workers from the Truck and Container Association are also unaccounted for.

The Red Cross estimates more than 90,000 people are likely affected by the disaster, which China attributes to the impacts of climate change.

Prime Minister Balendra Shah called the flood an “unprecedented and devastating natural disaster” and said it remains difficult to fully assess the damage. He said nearly 21,000 security personnel are involved in rescue efforts, along with civilian staff and volunteers. Although many roads have been restored, nearly 40 kilometers of road have been completely washed away, hampering the delivery of aid to communities.

China sends experts and aid

China's state broadcaster CCTV said the government has mobilized over 2,100 rescue workers and allocated at least 220 million yuan ($33 million) to support relief efforts. Equipment and supplies have been airdropped to frontline rescuers, while Chinese soldiers are using life-detection devices to search for the missing.

Beijing said 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries remain unverified in Tibet. Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for maximum efforts to rescue those missing in the mudslide, the second time the leader has made such an appeal.

China has sent nine tunnel-rescue experts to Nepal and shared satellite information with Nepali authorities. Although Nepal stated it does not need foreign assistance in general search and rescue operations, it has accepted help from its two large neighbors, India and China, given their expertise in tunnel rescue.

Rescue operations have been suspended several times since Friday due to bad weather and concerns that a lake formed along the Nepal-China border could cause new flooding after overflowing into Nepal's rivers. Better weather on Monday helped speed up rescue efforts, according to Narendra Pariyar, district chief of Rasuwa, one of the two worst-affected districts.