Teams, equipped with searchlights and drones, walk through mud, silt to search for survivors in tunnels

TRISHULI BAZAAR/DEHRADUN: At least 955 people were dead and 4,471 missing across Nepal and Tibet by Monday evening as rescue teams pushed deeper into mud- and water-filled hydropower tunnels in Rasuwa and Nuwakot and searches continued across the border in Gyirong.The break-up comprised 939 dead and 3,925 missing in Nepal, as per National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority’s latest update at 6pm Monday, and 16 dead and 546 missing in Tibet in the latest official Chinese tally.Of Nepal’s 3,925 missing, 592 were foreign nationals and 639 were linked to hydropower projects. The overall missing figure had been revised down from 4,247, while the hydropower-linked count fell sharply from 933 as attendance, rescue and missing-person lists were reconciled. NDRRMA said 11,379 people had been rescued.Joint teams led by Nepal army continued search and rescue operations inside hydropower project tunnels, recovering three more bodies from two tunnels while returning from another after finding no sign of life or bodies inside.Nepal army spokesperson Brig Gen Rajaram Basnet told TOI that a rescue team entered Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Project tunnel, where 14 people had been feared trapped.“The team, equipped with searchlights and drones, reached the end of the 250m-deep tunnel. However, they failed to find any trace of any person after much effort and finally returned,” Basnet said.At Chilime Hydropower Project, another joint team comprising foreign experts entered around 100m before encountering a section completely buried under mud and silt.One of the most difficult operations remained at Trishuli-3A, where teams carried out a controlled blast at around 2am Monday, Nepal time, to create an entry portal after struggling to breach the buried tunnel. “Additionally, two excavators have also been deployed at a depth of around 10m to create an opening and clear water, mud and silt from within the tunnel. Search and rescue operations are also going on at the Trishuli-3B site,” Basnet said.The latest official update said teams at Trishuli-3A had located the tunnel head and were supplying air through a co­mpressor while draining operations continued, and an alternative route at the rear had been cleared for around 15m. At Upper Trishuli-1, rescuers had searched up to around 300m into the Hakku tunnel and 200m at Mailung, while specialist teams and excavators remained deployed at Trishuli-3B.Basnet said Nepal army alone had rescued 3,596 people, including 338 foreigners, by Monday afternoon.Across the border in Tibet, rescue crews continued trying to restore ground access to devastated Gyirong port. By noon Monday, heavy machinery had reopened G216 highway to within around 1.1km of the port, narrowing the final road gap to the core disaster zone.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.