Nepal’s military stepped up search and rescue operations after the devastating flash flood in the Himalayas, but faced major challenges including thick layers of mud and people trapped in mountain tunnels.
The mud was making it difficult for helicopters to land and take off in affected areas including Temure, Syabrubesi and Mailung, army spokesman Raja Ram Basnet said on Friday in Battar Bazar in Bagmati province, which borders Tibet.
Fourteen rescue helicopters were currently operating in the region and rescue efforts had been intensified, Basnet said. Nepal’s disaster management authority said more than 4,400 people had been rescued by Friday evening.
The army has been using helicopters to evacuate people who were cut off from the outside world, bringing them to an army training camp in Battar Bazar. The army is primarily responsible for search and rescue operations during disasters in Nepal.
Tunnels in the mountainous region were another obstacle, Basnet said, with people being trapped inside. Only four people had been rescued from the tunnels by Friday morning, he said, adding that many more were thought to remain inside.
Video footage showed rescuers pulling two mud-covered workers alive from a tunnel at a hydropower plant. The men were carried on rescuers’ backs to a helicopter.
It was difficult to say how long the rescue operations would continue, Basnet said.
Nepalese authorities said on Friday that 1,924 people were missing in the popular mountainous tourist region, including 517 foreigners. On the Chinese side of the border, in Tibet, 558 people were reported missing.