KATHMANDU: Nepali rescuers drilled, dug and used explosives on Sunday in a bid to reach dozens of hydropower workers believed trapped in tunnels swamped by flood debris, racing against time to find survivors.
Rescue operations entered their fifth day since the floods hit the Nepal-China border. Teams battled rain, rising rivers and treacherous conditions at the disaster sites.
Nepal's government says more than 100 workers may still be trapped alive inside multiple tunnels at hydropower projects, with key rescue efforts focused on the Trishuli 3A and 3B sites in a Himalayan valley.
"Efforts to rescue people trapped inside the tunnel of the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project in Nuwakot have been intensified, including attempts by engineers from the Nepali Army to carry out blasting operations," Nepal's energy ministry said on Sunday.
They are among 933 hydropower workers missing since a wall of mud and debris swept down last Wednesday morning, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.
The team, comprising around 90 army and police personnel, first broke through into the upper part of a mud-swamped 3A tunnel on Saturday night, pumping air inside and sending in a camera.
Using heavy equipment including "drilling machines, excavators, hydraulic cutters, and other equipment" on Sunday, they drilled four holes before rescuers descended by rope into the crater.
"After descending through the opening using ropes and calling out to those inside, no response was received," the prime minister's office said in a statement.
"To make the rescue operation easier and faster, the teams are simultaneously using heavy equipment, carrying out blasting, and widening the opening."
Photographs shared by the disaster office showed workers wading through churned mud and navigating vast boulders left by the floods.
Work continues to "clear the entrance", the energy ministry said, which it said is approximately 180 metres from the "working space".
"... preparations are being made to send rescuers equipped with oxygen into the tunnel," once the opening is cleared, the energy ministry said.
"A camera will also be sent in with the rescuers, allowing the actual conditions inside the tunnel to be monitored from outside," it said.
"Once the working space is reached, more clear information will be available about the actual condition, location, and safety status of the people trapped inside."
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