More than 3,900 people are still missing after devastating floods near the Nepal-Tibet border, with hundreds of workers feared trapped inside mud-filled hydropower tunnels.
The death toll in Nepal has now crossed 1,000, with more than 3,900 people still missing. Among them are over 600 workers believed to be trapped inside a vast network of mud-filled tunnels at hydropower sites along the Trishuli River.
Rescue teams are racing against time. Engineers have been pumping air into the dark tunnels, and a team even managed to breach one recently. But they had to withdraw after finding it empty. For the families waiting outside, the slow pace is agonizing.
“The longer it takes, the more our hope dies,” said Jiban Khadka, whose relative is trapped inside. “This operation must move much faster because every second is meaningful to us.”
Yet, some still hold on to any sign of life. “I still have a 50% hope that he is alive because there is an oxygen system inside,” Sita Pandey told a local newspaper, speaking of her husband who was working at the plant. Another wife, Anushila Bhandari, simply said, “I wish we could find him. I wish he would come home.”
The sheer scale of the destruction is hard to comprehend. Australian tunneling expert Arnold Dix, who is helping coordinate the underground search, described the site as a “lunar landscape.” He noted that rescuers are struggling just to find the tunnels, facing boulders “bigger than houses” that require heavy explosives to move.
SEE ALSO: Death Toll Rises to 389 in Nepal as Mudslides and Massive Flash Floods Bury Whole Villages
Downstream, the grim reality continues to unfold. In the district of Chitwan, nearly 300 bodies have washed up on riverbanks. With morgues completely overwhelmed, authorities have been forced to use makeshift temporary burials in a nearby forest.
“We don’t have enough freezers here,” chief district officer Ganesh Aryaal explained. “We had to choose this last alternative. We are really overwhelmed.”
DNA testing will be used later to identify the remains, as only 4% of the 900 bodies found so far have been positively identified.
Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah called the disaster a stark warning of the increasing risks brought by climate change. But for the families standing in the mud, the broader politics of a warming planet offer no comfort. They are just waiting for the earth to give back their loved ones.
Promise Idoko is Junior Reporter working with moderncrux He covers global politics and international affairs. Based in Nigeria,
