Archive · 31 Aug 2026
Nepal Intensifies Rescue for Workers Trapped in Hydropower Tunnels
Large floods sent water, rocks and mud into parts of Nepal.
Some workers may be trapped inside tunnels at several hydropower projects.
Rescue teams are focusing on the Upper Trishuli-3A project.
They made a small opening into one tunnel and called inside, but nobody answered.
Soldiers are using ropes, dogs, machines and blasting to clear the tunnel.
Different reports give different estimates for how many people might be trapped.
India and China have sent specialists to help Nepal.
The rescue is difficult because roads, tunnels and other structures were badly damaged.
Nepali rescuers are working to reach people believed trapped in tunnels at hydropower projects in Nuwakot and Rasuwa districts.
At Upper Trishuli-3A, a 90-member team opened a 2-by-3-foot passage but reported no response from inside.
Estimates vary from 35 to 42 people at Tunnel 3A to around 350 across the Upper Trishuli complex.
IPPAN said 537 workers remained unaccounted for across nine projects after 361 of 898 initially missing workers were rescued.
Specialist teams from India and China joined Nepal’s rescue effort as mud, debris, damaged infrastructure and rising water obstructed access.
- Who
- The Nepali Army, Armed Police Force, Nepal Police, hydropower authorities, and specialist teams from India and China.
- What
- A rescue operation is seeking workers believed trapped in flood-buried hydropower tunnels.
- When
- The main rescue efforts described took place on Sunday, four days after floods struck on August 26.
- Where
- The principal operation is at Upper Trishuli-3A in Nuwakot, with related efforts at projects in Nuwakot and Rasuwa, including Chilime and Langtang.
- Why
- Floods buried tunnel entrances and access routes under mud and debris and damaged surrounding infrastructure.
Higher Estimates
Lower or Site-Specific Estimates
People potentially trapped near Upper Trishuli
Higher Estimates
Officials cited by Reuters said around 350 people could be trapped inside a tunnel at the Upper Trishuli complex.
Lower or Site-Specific Estimates
Other reports focused on Upper Trishuli-3A and cited about 42 people, while a site-based estimate put the number at 35 to 40; that figure was not independently confirmed.
Workers missing across projects
Higher Estimates
IPPAN said 537 workers and employees remained unaccounted for across nine hydropower projects.
Lower or Site-Specific Estimates
IPPAN also said 361 of the 898 people initially out of contact had been rescued, meaning the number still missing had declined.
Progress inside Tunnel 3A
Higher Estimates
Officials said rescuers reached the tunnel section, opened an access point and continued widening it with machinery and blasting.
Lower or Site-Specific Estimates
Rescuers had not yet reached the workers and received no response after entering through the opening, so their condition remained unknown.
- Main rescue site
- Upper Trishuli-3A, a 60-megawatt hydropower project in Nuwakot.
- Reported people at Tunnel 3A
- About 42 people were reported out of contact by IPPAN; the Nepal Electricity Authority separately cited around 42 technical personnel inside.
- Rescue team at Trishuli-3A
- A 90-member force comprising 66 Nepali Army personnel, 18 Armed Police Force personnel and six Nepal Police personnel.
- Tunnel access
- Rescuers created an opening about 2 by 3 feet; the tunnel mouth was located about 40 metres upstream and eight metres below a vertical hole.
- Unaccounted workers
- IPPAN said 537 workers remained unaccounted for across nine projects, after 361 of 898 initially out-of-contact workers were rescued.
- Other estimates
- Reports cited around 300 people at Upper Trishuli-1, eight unaccounted for at Chilime, and 35 to 40 at Tunnel 3A; the latter estimate was not independently confirmed.
- International assistance
- An 11-member Indian technical team, a separate 22-member Indian Army team and a six-member Chinese tunnel expert team were deployed or assisting.
Sources
Nepal steps up rescue effort to reach hundreds trapped in tunnels
Rescue race in Nepal as Army works to reach 42 missing inside buried hydropower tunnel - Telegraph India
Nepal Flash Flood LIVE News Updates: Nepal intensifying efforts to free hundreds believed trapped in hydropower tunnels
