In the flood-ravaged Nepal Valley, nothing remains standing

The section of Nepal's Trishuli River valley, where rescuers try to reach hundreds of workers trapped in hydroelectric plants, appears as a?desolate gray expanse.

Eight days after the devastating?flood the ground has either become hard and concrete-like or a slippery, wet mass. There are no signs of human settlement in large areas.

Navesh Chtrakar, a photographer who arrived by helicopter at Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Plant, saw large boulders being moved from the mouth of a tunnel. The opening was so small that Nepali rescue workers were only able to crawl?inside the tunnel.

Authorities estimate that 900 people may be trapped in six hydropower stations. In the small Himalayan country, a collapsed glacier last Wednesday caused a massive wave of mud and water to rage through mountain valleys. Over 1,200 people were killed.

The excavators were able to move deeper into the tunnel by drilling controlled blasts in the boulders.

The villages of Syabrubesi that were once gateways for Himalayan treks, dotted with houses and a thin layer of mud grey in colour, are now covered with a thick layer.

Chitrakar stated that there were no signs of life visible in the apocalyptic scene. Marks?on the looming mountains, on both sides, of the Trishuli River suggested the floodwaters may have risen as high as 500 meters over normal levels.

Some?rescue crews in red uniforms were seen at the Gyirong border gate where surveillance footage had shown people fleeing seconds before the mudslide that engulfed this crossing between China and Nepal.

The photographer said, "But there was nothing standing left." No buildings, no gate, no bridge.

(source: Reuters)