Hundreds feared stuck in hydropower tunnels as flood deaths surpass 950 in Nepal, China
Foreign teams assisting local rescuers as some 4,400 people remain missing
Rescuers raced Monday to free hundreds of workers believed to be trapped in tunnels at hydropower sites that were buried in mud by catastrophic flooding on the Nepal-China border, as the death toll climbed and increasingly desperate families searched for missing loved ones.
The combined deaths in Nepal and China surpassed 950, with more than 4,400 people missing. A private-sector association representing power companies said at least 900 workers were unaccounted for at 12 hydropower projects damaged by the flash floods in Nepal's Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts.
About 500 of those workers were believed to be trapped in tunnels. At least one expert said that some workers could have access to oxygen, but others warned that the chances of finding survivors were diminishing. As the rescue efforts intensified, four bodies were recovered from three mud-filled tunnels, Nepal's army said.
"I'm not a betting man but I'm an optimist. If there's someone alive, or there's people alive out there, we're doing our best to find them," Arnold Dix, an Australian expert in tunnel rescues, told CBC News from Melbourne on Monday.
Dix has been asked to assist in finding survivors at hydro project sites where the buildings have washed away and the tunnels are all that remains.
"We know that virtually anyone near the surface or near the entrances to those tunnels have lost their lives," he said, adding that the deaths of workers trapped in tunnels means an "enormous loss" for the country.
"Nepal has lost … so many of their experts."
Some workers managed to call for help when the disaster struck last Wednesday, and others who managed to flee reported to authorities and relatives that many of their colleagues were still in the tunnels, said Mohan Kumar Dangi, president of the Independent Power Producers' Association, Nepal (IPPAN.)
It was unclear whether rescuers have had any contact with the trapped workers since the initial calls for help.
Uttam Bhlon Lama, senior vice-president at IPPAN, told CBC's As It Happens Monday that the association is helping the government with rescue operations, providing maps and diagrams of the projects.
He said the lack of heavy equipment and sheer inexperience with this level of disaster is daunting, but that no one is prepared to give up and assume the workers are lost.
"We are still hopeful because until and unless we don't reach there, we don't see it," he told host Nil Köksal. "They're our loved ones. So we cannot trust that they're no more."
Built to control water flow
Rescue efforts were focused on people trapped in the gigantic tunnels built for controlling the flow of water.
"These tunnels are big enough to drive trucks through," said Jakob Steiner, a geoscientist at the University of Graz in Austria based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. "And from what we understand, they have managed to get oxygen to some of those stuck inside and are trying to rescue them now. It's a race for time, though, as people need food and water."
In the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project, in the hard-hit Rasuwa district, at least 576 people were missing, Dangi said, adding that around 300 of them were believed to be trapped inside the project's tunnel.
At the Trishuli-3 Hydropower Project, crews were working to descend about 15 metres into a tunnel in an effort to reach those believed trapped inside, according to Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet, Nepal's army spokesman.
Workers shovelling mud from a flood-ravaged power station in Dhading, Nepal, told The Associated Press that the station is a key connection for providing power to over 20,000 people in the region.
China rebuilding road
On the Chinese side, rescue and recovery efforts included rebuilding the road leading to the Gyirong Port border crossing that regulated travel between China and Nepal.
Trucks carried giant rocks as workers tried to repave a portion of the road, state broadcaster CCTV showed Monday, next to rapidly rushing waters, which have been made more powerful by days of rain. The road is now under two to three metres of water. The repaving effort was just a little over a kilometre from the border, CCTV said.
Although some rescue teams have managed to reach the border, that represented only a portion of the force.
Chinese state media coverage has focused largely on the official response, highlighting the deployment of firefighters, the People's Liberation Army and instructions from top leaders. Little is known about victims on the Chinese side.
Canadians still missing
Nepal's disaster agency said Monday that 939 deaths had been counted in that country, with 3,925 people missing, including 592 foreigners. As of Sunday, Chinese authorities reported 16 deaths and 546 missing. Chinese state media said 261 of the missing were foreigners, including over 100 Nepalis.
There are about 30 Canadians still unaccounted for, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand.
Rama Raina's husband, Gireesh, was part of a group making a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash. She told CBC's Andrew Nichols that even though she has not heard from her husband since Aug. 26, she is confident he is alive.
"I'm very positive he is safe somewhere," she said Monday from Guelph, Ont.
Raina says she knows he was at the Chinese Immigration Centre when the flash flood hit. "This is my firm belief that they are stranded there and waiting for some help," she said, adding that she is frustrated by the lack of information.
"But he's definitely somewhere trying to survive and trying to reach [us]," she said.
Canada now has ten officials in Kathmandu, including an RCMP officer and the deputy high commissioner of Canada to India to assist in the response, according to Anand.
"Canadian officials are working closely with Nepalese and Chinese counterparts, as well as international partners including the Five Eyes, France, Japan, Italy and Singapore, to share information and support efforts to locate and assist Canadians, she said in a statement posted Monday to X.
"Officials remain in direct contact with affected families through designated points of contact, are listening to their concerns and suggestions, and will continue to provide updates as information becomes available," Anand said.
Please see my consular update regarding the flash floods in Nepal and China: <a href="https://t.co/TAWOnBtgZN">pic.twitter.com/TAWOnBtgZN</a>
—AnitaAnandMPTwo days after the disaster, Maraval Nagappan travelled to Nepal to search for his son, who was among the missing. He visited rescue centers and morgues and went as far as 40 kilometres from where his son was believed to have been, but found no sign of him.
His son, Sathya Narayan, had been leading a group of 49 Indian travellers who were returning from Mount Kailash — a sacred site in southwestern Tibet. The group has been missing since floodwaters swept through a Chinese immigration complex where they were waiting to cross into Nepal.
Nagappan, who owns the Chennai-based travel company that organized the pilgrimage, said the group had been expected to complete immigration formalities and leave for Nepal within about two hours. Instead of making the crossing, they were caught in the flood, Nagappan said.
The pilgrimage began Aug. 14. "I haven't heard from my son since then. I don't know whether he is alive or dead," he said.
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Surveillance footage showed water surging through the immigration complex at the border as people scrambled to escape. Nagappan said some of those seen fleeing were members of his son's group and were identified by the clothes they were wearing.
Wednesday's flash floods started after a glacial collapse high in the Himalayan region. Scientists who studied satellite images said bedrock underneath a glacier high in the Himalayan region had collapsed, taking part of the glacier with it. The rockfall was so extreme that it registered as a magnitude 5.2 seismic event.
The rocks and melted water then swelled the rivers in the valleys below, causing a torrent of water that swept buildings, bridges and earth downstream in Tibet and Nepal.
With files from CBC News
