Nepalese rescuers have resorted to using explosives to blast a hillside in an urgent effort to reach workers trapped inside hydropower plants following devastating floods. The operation is ongoing as the death toll from the floods has climbed to 939. Families of those believed to be trapped are expressing frustration over the pace of the rescue efforts.
Rescuers began pumping air into a tunnel over the weekend, but relatives of the missing have stated this should have been initiated sooner. A team entered a tunnel leading to one plant on Monday but found no one present. "The longer it takes, the more our hope dies. This operation must move much faster because every second is meaningful to us," said Jiban Khadka, whose relative is among those trapped, describing the operation as "frustratingly slow."
Sita Pandey, whose husband was working in a plant when the floods hit, told the Nepalese daily Kantipur, "I still have a 50% hope that he is alive because there is an oxygen system inside." Another family member, Priya Kharel, whose brother Milan was working as an engineer in the Upper Trishuli-1 plant, cited those who had returned from the site saying people were still inside tunnels. "So there is hope that if the army reaches them quickly, they can be saved," Kharel told BBC News Nepali.
Nepal, a country heavily reliant on hydropower, has invested years in developing numerous projects along its mountainous river systems. At least 11 projects, either completed or under construction, sustained damage in the recent floods. Nepalese leader Shah stated that rescue operations had been "intensified" and that 11,379 people had been rescued overall. The full extent of the damage and the number of people still unaccounted for are continuing to be assessed. The floods were triggered by a glacial lake outburst flood, which sent torrents of water and mud down river systems, inundating towns and damaging infrastructure.