Rescue crews and foreign specialists are racing to find scores of workers feared trapped alive inside hydropower tunnels in Nepal, after thick mud buried the facilities during last week’s devastating flash floods.
At least 933 workers are missing at various hydropower projects that run along the Trishuli river, which winds through multiple districts in the remote and mountainous area, according to the country’s disaster agency.
It’s not clear how many of those workers were inside the deep and heavily reinforced tunnels when the water hit. It’s also unclear how many of them may be still alive, with search and rescue efforts complicated by poor weather, mud, and the loss of critical infrastructure like roads and bridges.
Nepal and its superpower neighbors – China and India – have invested heavily in hydropower projects across the Himalayas in recent years, hoping to harness the vast energy potential of its raging rivers.
Here’s what we know so far.
