Nepal’s Flood Death Toll Hits 1,252 as Workers Are Still Pulled From Buried Tunnels

The death toll from catastrophic flash floods that struck the Nepal-Tibet border region last month has risen to 1,252, with 4,216 people still listed as missing, according to Nepali government data released this week. Chinese state media separately reported 16 deaths and 546 missing on the Tibetan side of the border, pushing the cross-border total to 1,268 dead and 4,762 missing [1]. Rescuers pulled two workers alive from a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A hydropower plant this week, nine days after the floods hit, as part of an ongoing search for dozens of workers still unaccounted for at that site alone; nationwide, roughly 900 workers remain missing across 12 hydropower projects, with about 500 believed trapped inside tunnels [2, 3].

The damage is concentrated in Nepal’s hydropower sector. At the nearly complete, $647 million Upper Trishuli-1 project led by South Korean firm Korea South-East Power and its partners, more than 90% of the upper dam and the workers’ base camp were destroyed, with 576 workers initially reported missing and roughly 300 believed trapped inside the project’s tunnel [4]. Nepal’s Electricity Authority says 13 hydropower projects nationwide have sustained damage, with losses estimated in the hundreds of billions of Nepali rupees [5].

Why It Sucks:

Families of the Missing & Trapped Workers

• Nine days of not knowing. Families of the roughly 500 workers believed trapped in tunnels have waited over a week for word on whether loved ones are alive, with rescues like this week’s two survivors offering fragile hope rather than answers [2, 3].
• The math keeps getting worse. A death toll that has climbed to 1,252 with 4,216 still missing means most families searching for someone are still, more than a week later, without any confirmation at all [1].
• A cross-border tragedy with divided information. Families on the Nepali side are relying on one set of government figures while Tibetan casualties are reported separately by Chinese state media, adding confusion to an already agonizing wait [1].

Hydropower Industry & Foreign Investors

• A $647 million project nearly wiped out. More than 90% of the Upper Trishuli-1 dam and construction camp was destroyed just before completion, threatening Korea South-East Power and its partners with a near-total loss on a project years in the making [4].
• Thirteen projects damaged at once. Nepal’s Electricity Authority is now tallying hundreds of billions of rupees in damage across a dozen-plus hydropower sites, a blow to a sector foreign investors were counting on for steady returns [5].
• Hundreds of workers still unaccounted for on-site. With roughly 300 workers believed trapped at Upper Trishuli-1 alone, companies face not just financial losses but a humanitarian crisis unfolding inside their own infrastructure [4].

Nepal’s Government & Disaster Officials

• A hydropower strategy under existential pressure. Nepal has bet heavily on hydropower exports as an economic engine, and officials now must explain how a glacier-driven flood was allowed to devastate a dozen projects built in fragile mountain terrain [5].
• Rescue operations stretched past the two-week mark. Authorities are still running search efforts at multiple tunnel sites simultaneously, straining personnel and equipment even as the confirmed death toll keeps rising [1, 2].
• Coordinating across a border adds another layer. Nepali officials must reconcile their own casualty figures with separately reported numbers from Tibet, complicating an already difficult disaster response [1].

Sources & Citations:

[1] ABC News: Nepal floods death toll climbs to 1,252 as rescue efforts continue
[2] CNN: Two men pulled alive from Nepal hydropower plant tunnel nine days after floods
[3] NPR: Rescuers pull 2 trapped workers from a hydropower tunnel 9 days after Nepal floods
[4] Korea JoongAng Daily: Nepal flood destroys much of Korea-led Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project
[5] Mongabay: Nepal’s flood disaster puts its hydropower-first strategy, exports to the test