Renewed hope in Nepal: "46 survivors trapped in a tunnel, they are likely alive"
Exactly one week after the flood disaster on the border with Tibet, the official death toll stands at 1,130 and the number of missing at nearly 4,500, including hundreds of foreign citizens from 39 countries, among them two Israelis. The Nepal Electricity Authority reveals that dozens of workers from a hydroelectric power station are likely in an underground space with survival supplies. Rescue teams from India and the USA are assisting, and listening equipment will be sent into the tunnels to search for signs of life after drones failed to find survivors. The scale of the debris is equivalent to 6 Empire State Buildings.
An official at the Nepal Electricity Authority told Reuters today, Wednesday, that there is a high chance that dozens of workers from a hydroelectric power station who were trapped in the flood last week will be found alive, even though exactly one week has passed since the disaster. According to him, the trapped workers have water and food inside the structure, which is the source of the optimism.
Since the glacier collapse and the subsequent flood last week — a disaster in which more than 1,000 people were killed in Tibet and Nepal and more than 4,000 are still missing — rescue forces have focused massive efforts on a series of hydroelectric power stations that were damaged by the water, where more than 900 workers were trapped. At least 279 people have already been rescued from the ruins, but at least 639 others are still missing, and a large portion of them are likely trapped in underground tunnels.
The critical time for rescuing survivors in disasters of this type is 72 hours, a deadline that passed on Saturday. However, regarding the Rasuwagadhi hydroelectric power station, there is now renewed optimism. "In Rasuwagadhi, we estimate that 46 people are trapped in a room-like structure inside the tunnel," Ammasu Kiran Shahi, a member of the Nepal Electricity Authority's management, told Reuters. "We have great confidence that they are alive even after a week, because they have food and water there inside the structure." Special rescue teams from India, China, and the USA are participating in attempts to reach those trapped, and after several drones failed to lead to the discovery of survivors, they intend to use advanced listening equipment to pick up signs of life.
The Rasuwagadhi hydroelectric project, a 111-megawatt facility located in the Rasuwa district, is situated in a mountain valley about 5 kilometers from Nepal's border with China. "This is the only project where it is possible to walk inside the tunnel. The army tried to do this three days ago, but they did not find the room," said Shahi. "Now we are going inside again." He noted that the expectation is to find survivors there, as there is a dry space inside.
Hydroelectric projects have flourished in Nepal since the beginning of the century, as the country sought to utilize its Himalayan water sources to cope with chronic electricity shortages and sell power to India. Such projects require tunnels that lead water through steep surfaces, allowing developers to utilize sharp height differences to generate electricity. It is estimated that some of the trapped people are currently located in these tunnels.
Yesterday, the BBC published new testimony from workers who escaped during the disaster last Wednesday. Pemba Dundu Tamang, who led a team of about 30 workers, testified that he felt a gust of wind so sudden and strong that it moved heavy mechanical equipment. "I ran towards the tunnel opening," he said, "the water was chasing me and I was running in front of it." He ran for about 20 minutes to escape the powerful stream. His friend, Aita Gala, said the gust almost blew them away. Tamang estimates that about 50 to 60 workers managed to escape from the tunnel with him.
Today, the official death toll in the disaster rose to 1,130 (1,114 in Nepal and 16 in China), and the number of missing stands at 4,462. Hundreds of the missing are foreign citizens: in Nepal alone, about 590 foreign citizens from 39 countries are defined as missing. China, which maintains strict censorship, has not updated its figures since Sunday. Among the missing are still two Israeli citizens. One is a man in his 60s, and the second is Katrina Zakovich, a 41-year-old woman with dual Israeli and Belarusian citizenship.
In view of the diminishing chances of finding survivors, Nepal's Prime Minister Blandra Shahi announced that the focus of activity will shift from search and rescue operations towards rehabilitation and reconstruction. According to the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the disaster left behind at least 2.2 million tons of debris — equivalent to six Empire State Buildings. Residents continue to wander among the remains of their villages, trying to save what they can. "My husband and I managed to escape safely, but we couldn't take anything with us," said Shanta Sunar, a 45-year-old shop owner who survived the flood in the Nuwakot district.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric noted that aid organizations are very concerned about the danger to public health due to crowding in evacuation centers, contaminated water, and damaged health facilities, especially for women and children, in the midst of the monsoon season. Prime Minister Shahi noted that his government has increased monitoring and response measures to prevent possible disease outbreaks.
