Kathmandu, Sept 5:
Rescue teams searching for people missing in the devastating Nepal floods have turned their attention to hydropower projects, where large numbers of workers are feared trapped inside tunnels and other underground facilities.
The search has become increasingly urgent as emergency teams work through damaged infrastructure across the flood-hit Himalayan region. Rescue personnel from Nepal and several other countries are involved in operations to locate missing workers and clear tonnes of debris.
Hydropower facilities have emerged as particularly critical search locations because many workers are believed to have been inside tunnels when the floods and debris flows struck. Difficult terrain, damaged infrastructure and unstable conditions have slowed efforts to reach the affected areas.
Rescuers are continuing operations despite the risks, hoping to locate survivors in underground sections that may have remained partially protected from the force of the floods.
The disaster has triggered a major mobilisation of security personnel, emergency responders and rescue teams across Nepal. Teams are being deployed at multiple locations as authorities struggle to assess the full scale of the destruction and the number of people still unaccounted for.
The rescue operation faces an additional threat following a magnitude 5 earthquake that struck the region. The tremor has raised concerns about further landslides, rockfalls and unstable slopes, potentially making already dangerous search operations even more difficult.
Authorities are therefore balancing the urgency of reaching missing workers with the safety of rescue personnel as operations continue in one of the world’s most challenging terrains.