China-Nepal Flood Toll Tops 1,000 as Tunnel Rescue Offers Last Hope

Nearly 4,500 people are missing after the gigantic wave of freezing water, rocks and debris from a high-altitude glacial collapse roared downstream on Aug. 25, wiping out entire settlements and gouging a path of destruction through Nepal.

Nepali rescue teams are digging, drilling and blasting through debris in a race against time in treacherous conditions to free around 100 hydropower workers believed trapped in multiple tunnels.

So far, only corpses have been pulled out of tunnels blocked with sludge.

“We are focused on search and rescue efforts at the tunnels, our work is continuing,” Raja Ram Basnet, Nepal Army spokesman, told AFP on Sept. 1.

“Our soldiers are also deployed to collect bodies and prevent the spread of disease.”

With mortuaries overflowing in Nepal, the authorities have begun burying hundreds of unidentified bodies after DNA sampling. At least 17 bodies have also been pulled from rivers far downstream in India.

Aid needs are enormous. Entire communities have been swept away, leaving families homeless and using makeshift shelters as heavy rain lashes down.

Roads and dozens of bridges have been smashed, and power plants destroyed.

“There are too many challenges,” said police officer E. Hawadi in badly affected Nuwakot district.

Foreigners missing among the list include 583 in Nepal and 261 in China, coming more than 30 nations.

They include tourists who had come for trekking in the apparently serene Himalayas, as well as Hindu pilgrims seeking spiritual peace at Tibet’s sacred Mount Kailash.