Rescuers Pull Multiple Workers Alive From Buried Himalayan Hydropower Tunnels

Overview

• A glacier collapse on 26 August sent a wall of ice, rock and mud down valleys on the Nepal–Tibet border and wiped out villages, roads and hydropower works.
• Rescue teams drilled ventilation shafts and dug galleries into flooded tunnels to reach pockets of survivors, recovering workers from Trishuli-area projects days after the collapse.
• Nepalese authorities report more than 1,300 confirmed deaths and say thousands remain missing, with roughly 900 hydropower workers unaccounted for and about 500 possibly trapped inside tunnels.
• Search-and-rescue operations have used thermal imaging, international experts from India, China and South Korea, and DNA collection centers in Kathmandu to identify bodies and coordinate medical care.
• Officials estimate reconstruction will cost at least hundreds of millions to several billion dollars, creating urgent needs for shelter, road and power repairs and long-term support for affected families.