Hunt Intensifies for 900 Missing at Nepal Hydel Units; One Tunnel Head Located
Rescue operations in Nepal have entered a critical phase as teams race to find more than 900 people still unaccounted for at flood-hit hydropower projects in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts. The missing include workers and staff at several hydropower facilities devastated by the August 26 flash floods.
Nepal’s disaster authorities have put the number of untraced hydropower workers at 933. A separate industry body, the Independent Power Producers’ Association Nepal, has reported a lower figure of 537 workers and staff missing from nine projects, reflecting continuing discrepancies in the rapidly changing casualty and rescue figures.
The most urgent operation is underway at the Upper Trishuli-3A hydropower project. Nepal Army rescuers have located the crown, or uppermost section, of a buried tunnel after days of drilling, excavation and debris removal. Teams are now widening the opening to allow rescuers carrying oxygen cylinders and other equipment to enter.
However, rescuers have yet to establish contact with people believed to be trapped inside. The tunnel has been heavily obstructed by mud and debris, making access extremely difficult and increasing pressure on teams as the survival window narrows.
At Upper Trishuli-1, the situation is even larger in scale. Hundreds of workers were believed to have been inside the project’s tunnel system when the flood struck. Earlier industry figures indicated that roughly 300 people could still be trapped there after hundreds of others were evacuated.
The flooding radically altered the surrounding terrain. At several sites, tunnel entrances disappeared beneath thick layers of mud and rubble, forcing military engineers to rely on construction plans and specialist equipment to determine where underground access points had been located.
Rescuers have already demonstrated that survivors can be reached. Nepal Army personnel recently extracted four workers from an intake tunnel at the Rasuwa Hydropower Project after clearing a buried entrance. The workers were brought out through heavy mud and evacuated by helicopter for treatment.
The rescue effort has been expanded with heavy machinery, drilling equipment, oxygen supplies, cameras and specialist personnel. Nepal Army and other security forces are working alongside hydropower engineers, while assistance has also come from neighbouring countries.
The disaster has also created a major national infrastructure crisis. The flooding and destruction of hydropower facilities has disrupted a significant portion of Nepal’s electricity-generating capacity, with Reuters reporting that affected projects account for roughly 10% of the country’s power generation.
The broader death toll has continued to climb. Nepalese authorities reported 794 deaths in Nepal, while China reported 16 deaths in Tibet, taking the combined figure to 810 in the latest reported count. More than 3,000 people remain missing across Nepal and Tibet, although officials continue to revise figures as search operations progress.
The human tragedy is particularly acute because many of the missing are migrant and construction workers from different countries. Reports have identified Nepali, Indian, South Korean and Chinese nationals among workers trapped or unaccounted for at the hydropower sites.
For families waiting outside the tunnels, every hour has become critical. Relatives have continued returning to tunnel entrances, hoping for a voice or sign from those trapped underground, while rescue teams work through unstable terrain and water-filled passages.
The catastrophe is now being viewed not only as a rescue emergency but also as a major warning for Himalayan hydropower development. The concentration of large infrastructure projects in steep, glacier-affected valleys leaves workers and critical energy facilities exposed to sudden floods, landslides and cascading mountain hazards.
As excavation continues, the immediate priority remains reaching the tunnels before conditions become irreversible. The discovery of the Upper Trishuli-3A tunnel crown has provided rescuers with a crucial breakthrough, but authorities still have no confirmed indication of how many people remain alive inside.
