The search for more than 900 people missing from flood-hit hydropower projects in Nepal intensified on Sunday as rescue teams, led by Nepalese Army personnel, stepped up efforts to locate survivors. At Upper Trishuli-3A, one of the worst-affected projects, rescuers located the crown head of a tunnel and began widening an opening to allow teams equipped with oxygen cylinders to enter.
The Independent Power Producers’ Association Nepal said 537 workers and staff remained unaccounted for across nine hydropower projects. However, Nepal’s disaster management authority, NDRRMA, put the number of missing hydropower workers at 933.
The overall death toll in Nepal and Tibet rose to 810 on Sunday, including 794 in Nepal and 16 reported in Tibet. A total of 3,048 people remained missing across the two countries, with NDRRMA reporting 2,502 missing in Nepal and Tibet authorities listing another 546.
Nepal said 592 foreign nationals were among those missing, along with 127 Nepalese citizens travelling with foreign groups.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said at 5.30pm Sunday that 149 Indian nationals had been rescued in Nepal. Its latest missing-person figures, released on Saturday night, showed 275 Indian nationals missing, while another 128 people of Indian origin remained uncontactable. India had not released a confirmed figure for Indian deaths by Sunday evening.
Army airlifts heavy machinery to cut-off hydropower site
A slight improvement in weather allowed rescue operations at the nine affected hydropower projects to gather pace. Road connectivity to Upper Trishuli-3A remained severed, prompting the Nepalese Army to airlift excavators, bulldozers and other heavy machinery to the site by helicopter.
Joint teams worked through the night despite continuing rain, using the equipment to clear debris and move closer to the tunnel entrance.
Nepalese Army spokesperson Brig Gen Rajaram Basnet told TOI that a team including tunnel specialists had located the crown head, or main section, of the Trishuli-3A tunnel.
“A hole of 2x3ft was dug, which revealed a water surface spanning a diameter of around seven metres and extending to a significant height. An army expert entered the hole and looked for signs of life but with no luck so far,” Basnet said.
“We’re now trying to widen the hole area to allow more experts to enter with oxygen cylinders and search for those trapped,” he added.
By Sunday evening, about 8,500 Army personnel had been deployed across major flood-affected areas as part of the search-and-rescue effort.
Rescue operations expand at multiple hydropower sites
At Upper Trishuli-1, around 300 workers were believed to have been trapped inside a tunnel. Of these, 254 had been rescued, while teams continued searching for those still missing.
At Upper Trishuli-3B, 91 of the 122 workers previously reported missing had been rescued, leaving 31 unaccounted for. The figures highlighted the scale of the rescue operation, which had expanded far beyond initial fears that only about 100 workers were trapped at a few locations.
Nearly 20,000 security personnel were deployed as ground and aerial teams searched riverbanks, devastated settlements and tunnels filled with mud and debris.
Nepalese foreign secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai said the government’s immediate focus remained on saving lives, locating and rescuing missing people, providing emergency relief and ensuring that both Nepalese citizens and foreign nationals affected by the disaster received appropriate assistance.
MEA urges caution as casualty figures continue to change
With the numbers of dead and missing continuing to fluctuate, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal cautioned against relying on preliminary figures.
“We are in a dynamic situation, so figures keep going up and down. Also, we have to reconcile several lists that we are dealing with,” Jaiswal said.
The number of people of Indian origin among those classified as foreign nationals is expected to be significant. Several travellers officially recorded as American, British, Australian, Canadian and other foreign nationals were people of Indian origin travelling on foreign passports. Many were pilgrims travelling to or returning from Kailash Mansarovar.
In one 77-member group caught in the disaster, 53 people were of Indian origin but held foreign passports.
The situation on the Tibet side was being tracked separately. Chinese authorities said 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries were among the 546 people missing in Gyirong. The group included 49 Indians, 104 Nepalese, 33 Latvians, 18 Americans, 15 Britons, six Canadians and six Australians.
It was not immediately clear whether the 49 Indians listed by Chinese authorities were already included in the MEA’s wider figure of 275 missing Indian nationals.
Meanwhile, large numbers of Indian pilgrims and travellers stranded on the Chinese side began leaving the affected region. The MEA said earlier Sunday that 598 Indians had safely crossed from China into Nepal over two days, while around 900 Indians still in China were “safe and contactable”.
Indian missions in Beijing and Kathmandu continued coordinating with Chinese and Nepalese authorities.
India steps up rescue and relief assistance
India also expanded its technical and logistical support to Nepal. Four relief flights had transported 68.5 tonnes of supplies to Kathmandu.
A 13-member Indian Army team specialising in tunnel rescue, along with specialist equipment, was sent to assist Nepalese authorities. Six forensic teams comprising 19 personnel were also deployed.
In addition, 16 trucks carrying components for a 230-foot single-lane modular steel bridge had reached Nepal, while equipment for seven more Bailey bridges was being supplied.
As rescue teams continued to work across flood-ravaged areas, authorities remained focused on locating survivors and accounting for thousands of people still missing, even as difficult terrain, damaged infrastructure and unstable conditions continued to hamper operations.
