Archive · 31 Aug 2026
Nepal Tunnel Search Finds No Workers; 93 Remain Untraced
Floods damaged several hydropower projects in Nepal.
Rescuers worried that workers might be trapped inside the Rasuwagadhi project's long tunnel.
Nepali Army personnel, engineers, and drone operators searched all the way to the tunnel's end.
Thermal drones looked in places that were difficult or dangerous for people to enter.
They did not see anyone inside, so the team returned to Dhunche.
The status of 93 workers at that project is still unknown.
Different agencies gave different totals for missing workers across 11 projects, including 897 workers out of contact and 933 people reported missing.
Rescue teams from Nepal, India, and China are continuing to search other hydropower sites.
A Nepali Army-led team searched the full tunnel of the 111-megawatt Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project and found no people.
Engineers and thermal-drone operators examined the tunnel endpoint after Bhote Koshi River flooding raised fears workers were trapped underground.
The fate of 93 people working at Rasuwagadhi remains unclear, although the search team returned to Dhunche.
The Independent Power Producers' Association, Nepal, said 897 workers across 11 projects in Rasuwa and Nuwakot remain out of contact.
NDRRMA reported 933 hydropower-associated people missing and 279 rescued, while Indian and Chinese technicians continued operations at other sites.
- Who
- Nepali Army rescuers, engineers, drone operators, hydropower workers, and Indian and Chinese tunnel technicians.
- What
- A search of the Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project tunnel found no people, while 93 workers remain untraced.
- When
- The search was conducted on Monday after flooding the previous week; broader rescue operations were ongoing.
- Where
- The Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project in Rasuwa, Nepal, and other projects in Rasuwa and Nuwakot.
- Why
- Flooding in the Bhote Koshi River raised concerns that workers were trapped inside hydropower tunnels or had been swept away.
- Project
- Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project
- Project capacity
- 111 megawatts
- Workers untraced at Rasuwagadhi
- 93
- Workers out of contact across 11 projects
- 897, according to the Independent Power Producers' Association, Nepal
- Hydropower-associated people reported missing
- 933, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority
- People rescued from hydropower tunnels
- 279, according to NDRRMA
- Reported broader flood toll
- More than 900 deaths and approximately 4,500 missing people were reported in one account
