Nepali rescuers faced challenging conditions on Sunday as search operations after catastrophic floods entered a 12th day, buoyed by the extraordinary rescues of four survivors.
Three of those have been found in hydropower tunnels where the government initially said it believed more than 100 workers could be alive. The wall of icy water and debris tore through mountain districts on August 26, destroying roads, bridges and other infrastructure. On Saturday, rescuers pulled a Chinese man alive from deep inside a hydropower tunnel, and a 64-year-old Nepali woman, Chandrika Shrestha, from her mud-covered home. The toll from the disaster in Tibet has risen from 31 to 43, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday. A further 519 people are missing, it said.
“Search and rescue is going on at the tunnels despite geography, adverse weather and lack of connectivity,” Energy Minister Biraj Bhakta Shrestha told AFP. Rescue workers were experiencing “multiple challenges”, he said. “You lose your home, you lose your livelihood, you lose your loved one and you lose the breadwinner of your family,” UN Resident Coordinator Lila Pieters Yahia said on Sunday. Prime Minister Balendra Shah said Shrestha’s rescue had “given hope to the entire nation”.
