Three bodies recovered from Nepal tunnels as rescuers focus on 933 hydropower workers
Indian and Chinese specialists are assisting operations at 11 project sites, while unstable glaciers and temporary lakes pose further danger.
KATHMANDU:
Rescue teams have recovered three bodies after entering two flood-blocked hydropower tunnels in Nepal, while operations continue to locate 933 workers missing from 11 projects in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts.
The tunnel recoveries are a material development in an operation previously focused on clearing entrances and establishing access. Other tunnel sections remain blocked by large deposits of water, mud and rock.
Nepalese teams, supported by specialists from India and China, are using controlled explosions, excavators and searchlights. Army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet said the volume of debris remained the principal obstacle.
Nepalese authorities reported 903 deaths and 4,247 people missing on Monday. China separately reported 16 deaths and 546 missing in Gyirong County in Tibet. Taken together, the national registers place the missing total near 4,800, but all figures remain provisional and may contain reporting or registration differences.
Nearly 21,000 Nepalese security personnel, civilian workers and volunteers are participating in rescue operations. The Red Cross estimates that more than 90,000 people have been affected.
Weather and geological instability continue to limit access. Chinese state media reported that glaciers near the impact crater remained vulnerable to further collapse, while landslide deposits could block rivers and create temporary lakes capable of releasing additional floods.
China attributed the original disaster to glacier instability associated with long-term global warming. Scientists have cautioned that forecasting such collapses is exceptionally difficult because potential source areas lie at high altitude and are difficult to monitor continuously.
Search teams must balance the urgency of reaching the tunnels against the risk of secondary landslides, flooding and structural collapse. Official identification of the recovered bodies and any evidence of survivors remain awaited.
