Official: There is a good chance that the trapped workers in Nepal's hydropower plant are still alive

A Nepal Electricity Authority official said on Wednesday that there is a good chance that the dozens of workers who were trapped in an underground chamber for a week at Nepal's Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Plant following flash floods will be found alive.

Amhsu Kiran Shahi is a member of the board of the Nepal Electricity Authority. He said: "In Rasuwagadhi we?think?46 people are stuck in a tunnel-like room."

"We are confident that they will be alive in one week, because they have water and food over there."

Nepali authorities have so far rescued 279 from hydropower plants swamped by an unprecedented deluge?of ice, rocks, mud, and debris, caused?by a calving glacier near the country's China border.

There are still 639 missing people, some of whom may be trapped in the tunnels that link to hydropower projects. Rescue teams from Nepal, India and China are digging for survivors.

'GOING AGAIN'

The Rasuwagadhi Hydroelectric Project is a 111 megawatt facility in the hard-hit Rasuwa District. It lies in a mountainous valley about 5 km away from Nepal's China border.

This is the only project that allows you to walk through the tunnel. Shahi stated that the army had tried to do this three days earlier, but were unable to find enough room. "We're going back in."

According to Raja Ram Basnet, Nepal's Army spokesman, rescuers are looking for survivors who may be trapped in tunnels at other locations where powerhouses offer rooms and spaces for people to stay.

It took the rescuers almost six days to locate the tunnels at the Upper Trishuli 3A facility, another project affected by the floods.

We are expecting survivors in that tunnel because we have been told there is an area inside which is dry. He said, "We are breaking into the tunnel right now."

We are using all the technology that is available in Nepal and we are getting help from Indians, Chinese, Koreans. "We have experts from Australia as well."

According to an estimate made by the United Nations Development Programme, the disaster created a total of at least 2.2 millions tons of debris, including rocks, sediment and parts of buildings. This is the equivalent of 6 Empire State Buildings.

(source: Reuters)