Rasuwa : The bodies of 18 workers who had gone missing inside the tunnel after the devastating Bhotekoshi flood have been recovered.
During search and rescue operations, the bodies of 18 people were taken out from the tunnel of the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydroelectric Project today, informed Ashok Thapa, Chief Deputy Superintendent of Police at the District Police Office in Rasuwa.
Hark Tamang, the social expert of Upper Trishuli-1, said the bodies were found inside the tunnel, about 100 meters into Audit-3, located northward about 5.5-KM from Mailung along the 9.8-kilometer-long tunnel of the project. Tamang shared that the Nepali Army and employees of the hydropower company were involved in the search and rescue.
Police chief Thapa also said that six workers’ bodies were recovered from the area on Thursday. Additional bodies were found as the search and rescue operations continued.
The police stated that the exact number of workers who were inside he tunnel during the flood is yet to be established. Identification and verification of the recovered bodies are also to be completed, the police said.
After the flood damaged the structures being constructed at the project site, the search and rescue operation for the workers trapped and missing in the tunnel had continued. The 216-megawatt Upper Trishuli-1 is a significant hydropower project under construction in Rasuwa.
With bodies being found during the search for the missing workers inside the tunnel, relatives and people associated with the project have been plunged into grief. The police shared difficulty to identify the bodies since the construction company also did not maintain exact records of workers with their names
