Pemba Dundu Tamang, a labourer at a Nepalese hydropower construction site, has described the terrifying moments when torrents from the Trishuli River burst into the tunnel where he and around 30 coworkers were working. He told the BBC that a sudden powerful gust of air sent plywood flying and shifted heavy equipment, and that moments later water was surging behind him as he sprinted toward the entrance, with the flood chasing him as he ran ahead of it.
Tamang ran for roughly 20 minutes to escape the wall of water, which pursued him uphill, and said he was nearly unconscious from shock. His colleague Itha Ghale recounted that the initial blast of air nearly knocked them over as they fled. Both men later learned that many relatives had been killed. Tamang lost six family members, including his mother, brother, sister-in-law and three children, while Ghale lost eight relatives, among them his mother and eldest daughter. Only Tamang’s wife, son and one nephew survived.
Officials say more than 1,000 people died in the floods that hit Nepal last week, with around 4,000 still unaccounted for. Many of the missing are believed to be labourers at the extensive network of tunnels serving hydropower plants along the river. The Nepal Army says it has focused on rescuing workers from the tunnels, and its spokesman Raja Ram Basnet told AFP that soldiers were also recovering bodies and working to prevent disease. The army said 119 people were rescued on Tuesday.
Nepal relies on hydropower for more than 99% of its electricity. Tamang and Ghale were helping build the Upper Trishuli 3B Hydropower Project, a plant designed to reuse water from an upstream station and due to begin operating next year. Tamang said about 50 to 60 workers managed to escape with him, and expressed regret that more might not have been saved due to a lack of proper resources.
A new report by researchers from the Asian Mountain Academic Alliance, the Stimson Centre and China’s Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment says satellite images showed signs of growing instability around the glacier before the disaster, including faster surface movement, brown meltwater and a developing crack in the rock. The experts say the avalanche moved too fast for conventional warnings to help those closest to it, but that a comprehensive early-warning system could have saved many lives further downstream, where floodwaters took ten minutes or longer to arrive.
Rescue teams from China, India and Nepal are continuing to use excavators and heavy machinery to clear debris from hydropower sites in hopes of reaching workers still trapped. Tamang said he knows several people who remain inside and hopes they can be rescued quickly.