Nepal worker survives flood‑hit hydropower tunnel, recounts escape

A Nepalese laborer who survived last week’s catastrophic flood recounted a harrowing escape from a tunnel at a hydropower project, saying he fled through a narrow passage as water surged through the underground conduit. The incident is part of a broader disaster that has inundated the country’s mountainous regions, prompting emergency crews to search for workers still inside the tunnels of six hydroelectric plants.

Authorities from Nepal and neighboring China reported that roughly 900 workers remain trapped in the flooded tunnels, while the official death toll from the Himalayan flood rose to 5,624 on Thursday. Rescue teams continue to work around the clock to locate and extract the missing, and officials have warned that the full extent of the damage to the nation’s hydropower infrastructure may take weeks to assess.