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Nepal rescuers blast hillside in search of hydropower workers as families wait anxiously
Confirmed
Army personnel have resorted to using explosives to blast into the hillside to reach the trapped workers The families of more than 600 workers believed to be trapped in a vast network of mud-filled tunnels along Nepal's Trishuli River are clinging to hope their loved ones can be found alive.
Search teams in Nepal, supported by experts from China and India, used controlled explosions Monday to try and reach hundreds of workers trapped inside blocked hydroelectric tunnels following last week's catastrophic flood.
Nepali officials said the focus remains on reaching 933 workers believed to be trapped across 11 hydropower sites, including several working inside approximately half a dozen tunnels in the severely affected Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts.
Australian engineer Arnold Dix, who has been helping Nepalese authorities with the underground search operations remotely, said rescuers had been struggling to find the tunnels. Once rescuers knew where the power stations were, Dix said they could then decide the best way to access them, which typically involves digging and "blasting boulders".
Footage and photographs shared by rescue crews showed earth-moving machinery digging through mud and rock under lights in the dark of night, observed by workers. On Monday, CCTV reported that glaciers surrounding an impact crater near the collapse site in Nepal remain at risk of further collapse.
In Tibet, near a key border crossing with Nepal, Chinese officials said 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries were unaccounted for. In Nepal, authorities have also ordered the removal of online content that they deem to be misinformation about the floods.
"Those who returned from the hydropower site said there were people inside the tunnel," she told BBC News Nepali. Military personnel used torches inside a large excavation pit to search for entry points into a blocked tunnel.
The Nepali army said search-and-rescue teams were using controlled blasts, excavators and searchlights to clear water and mud to reach trapped people The Nepali army said search-and-rescue teams were using controlled blasts, excavators and searchlights to clear water and mud to reach trapped people At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.
What's confirmed
- Army personnel have resorted to using explosives to blast into the hillside to reach the trapped workers The families of more than 600 workers believed to be trapped in a vast network of mud-filled tunnels along Nepal's
- Search teams in Nepal, supported by experts from China and India, used controlled explosions Monday to try and reach hundreds of workers trapped inside blocked hydroelectric tunnels following last week's catastrophic flo
- Nepali officials said the focus remains on reaching 933 workers believed to be trapped across 11 hydropower sites, including several working inside approximately half a dozen tunnels in the severely affected Rasuwa and N
- Australian engineer Arnold Dix, who has been helping Nepalese authorities with the underground search operations remotely, said rescuers had been struggling to find the tunnels.
- Footage and photographs shared by rescue crews showed earth-moving machinery digging through mud and rock under lights in the dark of night, observed by workers.
- In Tibet, near a key border crossing with Nepal, Chinese officials said 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries were unaccounted for.
What's still developing
- Army personnel have resorted to using explosives to blast into the hillside to reach the trapped workers The families of more than 600 workers believed to be trapped in a vast network of mud-filled tunnels along…
- It comes as the death toll from the flood disaster on the Nepal-Tibet border reached 939, according to the country's disaster management authority.
- Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah said on Monday that 279 people had been rescued from the sites.
- Nepalese leader Shah said rescue operations had been "intensified", noting that 11,379 people had been rescued so far.
- "Those who returned from the hydropower site said there were people inside the tunnel," she told BBC News Nepali.
- Australian engineer Arnold Dix, who has been helping Nepalese authorities with the underground search operations remotely, said rescuers had been struggling to find the tunnels.
- Once rescuers knew where the power stations were, Dix said they could then decide the best way to access them, which typically involves digging and "blasting boulders".
- Ganesh Aryaal, the chief district officer, told BBC Nepali that relatives will still be able to extricate the remains of their loved ones, once they are identified through DNA testing.