Nepal rescuers drill into tunnels in bid to reach trapped workers

By Al Jazeera Staff and AFP. Published On 30 Aug 202630 Aug 2026.

Key points

• International aid has arrived from the United Nations, the Red Cross Federation, Australia, India, South Korea and the United States.
• Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority notes there are 933 hydropower workers among the missing.
• The resulting surge swept south through Nepal's Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts, at one point raising the Trishuli River by nine metres in 30 minutes.
• Nepal's National Disaster Management Authority remarked on Sunday that 734 bodies had been recovered.
• Chinese authorities have documented that the death toll in Tibet has climbed to 16, with 546 individuals missing.

Nepali rescuers seeking to reach hydropower workers believed trapped in tunnels swamped by flood debris have resumed work after rain and rising river waters hampered efforts.

Nepal's administration states more than 100 workers may still be alive and trapped inside multiple tunnels at hydropower projects, with key rescue efforts focused on the Trishuli 3A and 3B sites.

Massive flash floods triggered on Wednesday when part of a glacier collapsed near Nepal's border with Tibet have left at least 750 residents dead and more than 3, 000 missing.

At Trishuli 3A in Nepal's Rasuwa District on Saturday evening, army rescue teams using drills broke through into the upper part of a mud-swamped tunnel and began pumping air as well as sending in a camera.

But overnight rain and rising river waters hampered efforts early on Sunday, filling the excavation area with water before conditions eased.

"As the floodwaters have receded, the team has resumed efforts to locate the tunnel entrance using drilling machines, excavators, hydraulic cutters and other equipment, " remarked a Nepal Army statement on Sunday.

Al Jazeera's Minelle Fernandez, reporting from the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, remarked the administration has requested specialist support from India and China to "fill gaps" in its rescue operations.

"The government is trying to give it its best shot, bringing in these experts to see if there is any way or means of bringing out anyone who is still alive, " she remarked.

Notably, the catastrophe on Wednesday was triggered when part of a glacier at roughly 5, 200 metres high in the Himalayas collapsed, plunging regarding 1, 200 metres and gathering rock and debris before slamming into the Lende River.

Notably, the resulting surge swept south through Nepal's Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading districts, at one point raising the Trishuli River by nine metres in 30 minutes. The US Geological Survey revised its initial finding of an earthquake trigger, concluding the seismic signal instead came from the landslide itself.

Al Jazeera's Jessica Washington, reporting from Dhading, remarked the river had receded on Sunday, but the current remained robust.

She remarked the floodwaters had destroyed numerous homes, leaving behind only the foundations. Those still standing are "in a state of complete disrepair, " she remarked.

"Speaking to some residents, this represents not only the destruction of their homes, but their livelihoods as well because many of the residents told us that they had small stores and small businesses in the bottom floors of their homes and all of their products – everything – has been completely washed away."

Nepal's National Disaster Management Authority remarked on Sunday that 734 bodies had been recovered. The number of missing on the Nepalese side of the border is at least 2, 498.

Chinese authorities have documented that the death toll in Tibet has climbed to 16, with 546 individuals missing. Al Jazeera's Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing, remarked 261 foreigners from 23 countries are among those unaccounted for.

In practice, the US and Canada remarked they would provide $3.6m each in humanitarian aid. While the UN published $2.5m in emergency funding, the United Kingdom has offered $6.8m in aid.

On Friday, the European Union pledged $2.3m and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) remarked it had allocated more than $1m and rolled out an emergency appeal for $31m.

As of "the rugged terrain and the lack of sufficient resources", al Jazeera's Samer Allawi remarked authorities "have not yet moved to the second phase of relief operations, which includes humanitarian assistance and reopening roads".

While warnings remain in place over feasible flooding along rivers in northern Nepal, he remarked that Nepal's finance minister estimated losses from the disaster at "more than $4bn".

In short, nepal rescuers drill into tunnels in bid to reach trapped workers is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.