Nepali rescuers focus on 900 hydropower workers in wake of catastrophic floods

KATHMANDU/BEIJING – Nepali rescuers searched on Monday for more than 100 hydropower workers feared trapped in tunnels days after four miracle rescues from the wreckage of catastrophic floods that laid waste to towns and villages on the Himalayan border with China. The rescues have offered a glimmer of hope as Nepal marked the 13th day after the disaster, traditionally the final day of mourning in Hindu rites, for the hundreds killed in the floods. About 121 of a total 900 people missing from the hydroelectric projects could have been trapped in these tunnels, army rescuers said.

Others may have been working elsewhere at the power plants but not inside the vast network of tunnels.