"Hundreds Trapped in Tunnels"... Piles of Mud and Murky Floodwaters

[Anchor]

Hundreds of people are still estimated to be trapped inside hydroelectric power plant tunnels at the site of the massive floods in Nepal. Rescuers are engaged in a desperate struggle, digging through mud with their bare hands and crawling through tight spaces to find additional survivors.

Reporting by Kim Minpyo.

[Reporter]

Rescuers who created a miracle had to enter through an access point created at the upper part of the hydroelectric plant tunnel and crawl toward the trapped survivors.

Other plant tunnels, which were originally accessible through their main entrances, are also filled with piles of mud almost to the top and submerged in murky water.

Consequently, rescue operations are being conducted by first exploring the interior with drones and then searching for areas likely to have empty spaces.

While some areas have enough space to approach by boat, others require rescue workers to bend down and manually dig out the mud with shovels or their bare hands.

[Chinese Rescue Team Dispatch: We quickly made a new plan. There was deep water behind the blocked part of the tunnel, so our team members rowed and also used buoys.]

A Nepali employee who survived on the first day of the massive floods at a power plant tunnel under construction by South Korea shared accounts of the harrowing situation.

[Dan Bahadur Tamang / Nepali Employee: I grabbed floating debris and was able to keep my head above water. I felt like I was going to die.]

Nepali authorities estimate that hundreds of people are still trapped across 12 hydroelectric power plant tunnels affected by the floods.

The hydroelectric power plants built along the Trishuli River operate by drawing water into underground tunnels to generate electricity through power facilities and then discharging the water through tunnels connected downstream. If people took shelter in underground resting facilities or air pockets inside the tunnels, additional survivors could emerge.

[Sisir Kanal / Nepali Foreign Minister: Air pockets may exist deep inside the tunnels, and given how the tunnels are designed, they slope upward.]

With the death and missing toll surpassing 6,300.

Nepali authorities believe there may still be survivors in the hydroelectric plant tunnels and are concentrating their rescue capabilities there.

(Video Editing: Lee Seung-yeol)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.