Engineers Guide Nepal Tunnel Rescue via WhatsApp

More than 500 engineers and other experts are providing real-time guidance to rescue workers searching tunnels at hydropower plants devastated by a flash flood in Nepal.

The engineers’ WhatsApp group already existed before the flood struck the Trishuli Valley on 26 August and was expanded after the disaster to support the search for survivors.

Authorities hope some of the roughly 900 people missing from six hydropower projects may have survived by fleeing into underground tunnels before the water, mud and rocks struck. But access points were buried beneath 2.2 million tonnes of mud and debris, while the flood altered both the surrounding terrain and the structure of the tunnels.

When rescuers needed plans for the Chilime hydropower plant, members of the group sent drawings of the powerhouse and access tunnels within minutes. At least eight people may be trapped there, while another 46 could be trapped at the Rasuwagadhi plant. No survivors have yet been found in any of the tunnels.

At the Upper Trishuli 3A hydropower project, rescuers took almost six days to reach the buried tunnel entrance. They then tried to pump oxygen through pipes into possible cavities. Experts are also sharing the names and phone numbers of missing workers so authorities can determine their last recorded locations.

The flood, caused by a glacier collapse, has killed more than 1,200 people, while more than 4,000 remain missing. It also wiped out 10% of Nepal’s power generation capacity.

(Reuters, bak)