Rescuers race to save over 100 people still trapped in Nepalese hydropower project tunnel

The Nepalese Army is trying to rescue more than 100 people trapped in tunnel for a hydropower project following Wednesday's floods. Photo by ARUN SANKAR /AFP via Getty Images

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A Nepalese rescue team is racing to locate 100 people still trapped in a hydropower tunnel after earlier extracting 350 labourers and locals, according to the Prime Minister’s Office, after a deadly torrent engulfed parts of the Himalayan nation.

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A video posted on the PMO’s Facebook page showed two army rescuers in hard hats and military fatigues rappelling out of a low-hovering helicopter and then crawling up a mud-encrusted hill toward the tunnel entrance. The Trishuli 1 power facility is located about 70 kilometres (43 miles) north of the capital, Kathmandu, on the Upper Trishuli River.

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India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said Thursday that Indian nationals were among workers at Trishuli 1.

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“A team of the Nepalese Army has successfully rescued 350 labourers and locals trapped in a tunnel a while back, facing an extremely dangerous and challenging situation amid adverse weather and floods,” the PMO said in the post. “The troops are actively working to safely evacuate more than 100 people trapped in the same tunnel.”

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Trishuli 1 is a 216 megawatt project being built in Nepal’s Rasuwa district, one of the areas hardest-hit by the flash floods. Nine international lenders, including International Finance Corp., Asian Development Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, are providing credit for construction.

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The $647 million venture was led by two Korean firms and close to the final stage of construction as part of efforts to help reduce Nepal’s acute power shortages, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily. It said more than 90 per cent of the upper dam was destroyed as well as roughly 90 per cent of the base camp housing for construction workers.

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The raging torrent of water and mud on Wednesday damaged bridges and roads as it inundated the region near the Chinese border, hampering rescue efforts. Floodwaters had not completely receded in parts of the affected zone and some villages and roads were left under a thick layer of mud.

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At least 389 people were killed and more than 1,200 are still missing, including hundreds of foreign tourists.

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— With assistance from Nikita Koirala.

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