{"id":44515,"date":"2026-09-03T11:22:01","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T09:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&p=44515"},"modified":"2026-09-03T11:22:01","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T09:22:01","slug":"nepal-rescuers-race-to-reach-any-survivors-trapped-in-tunnels-2","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/nepal-rescuers-race-to-reach-any-survivors-trapped-in-tunnels-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Nepal rescuers race to reach any survivors trapped in tunnels"},"content":{"rendered":"
Rescue teams raced on Wednesday to reach dozens of workers believed to be trapped inside hydropower tunnels in Nepal\u2019s mountains, offering one of the last hopes of finding survivors a week after a Himalayan flood killed more than 1 200 people.<\/div>\n
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The flood, triggered by the collapse of a glacier near Nepal\u2019s border with China, devastated towns and valleys across the mountainous region. At least 1 204 people have been confirmed dead and more than 4 200 remain missing.<\/div>\n
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Rescue efforts have increasingly centred on hydroelectric project tunnels where authorities believe workers may have survived after being cut off by floodwaters and debris.<\/div>\n
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Some tunnels contain chambers with air supplies, and rescuers were trying to reach about 900 missing workers.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe are very confident that there is life in there because there is food and water in the building, that was likely built for communication purposes and as a resting place,\u201d Amshu Kiran Shahi, a board member of the Nepal Electricity Authority, told\u00a0Reuters.<\/i><\/div>\n
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The chance of finding survivors elsewhere was fading, authorities said, but there was no let up in rescue operations as teams scoured the mountainside along the border with China where floods tore through towns and valleys.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe hope of finding survivors is decreasing,\u201d said Phanindra Paudel, a senior official at Nepal\u2019s National Emergency Operation Center. \u201cWe pray and are hopeful. Hope is hope.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Prime Minister Balendra Shah told parliament the search would continue.<\/div>\n
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\u201cOur priority remains clear: To continue our search and rescue operations, find those who are still missing and continue supporting everyone affected,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
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–Reuters–<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":44516,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-44515","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Prime Minister Balendra Shah told parliament the search would continue.","published_date":"","news_description":"Prime Minister Balendra Shah told parliament the search would continue.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44517,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44515\/revisions\/44517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=44515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}