919 DEAD AND NEARLY 5,000 MISSING as Fears Grow for 48 Britons and Two Irish Citizens

Rescue teams are racing to reach hundreds of workers feared trapped inside mud-blocked hydropower tunnels after the catastrophic Nepal-Tibet floods left at least 919 people dead and more than 4,700 missing. An estimated 900 workers remain unaccounted for across 12 hydropower projects damaged in Nepal’s Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts. Nepal’s Independent Power Producers’ Association estimates that at least 500 could be trapped inside the vast tunnel systems. Nepalese soldiers are using controlled explosions, excavators, cameras and air pipes to break through enormous deposits of mud, rock and debris. Specialist rescue teams from China, India and South Korea are assisting as hopes remain that workers may have found shelter, food and pockets of breathable air underground. Around 300 hydropower workers have reportedly been rescued, but hundreds remain unreachable. The brother of one missing engineer insisted there was still hope, declaring: “They could still be alive.” The combined death toll across Nepal and Tibet had reached 919 by Monday, August 31. Nepal reported 903 deaths and 4,247 people missing, while Chinese authorities confirmed 16 deaths and 546 missing in Tibet. Hundreds of foreign tourists and pilgrims are among those still unaccounted for. The disaster began on Wednesday, August 26, when a massive rockfall beneath a Himalayan glacier triggered a torrent of freezing water, ice, mud and debris. The collapse was so powerful that it registered as a magnitude 5.2 seismic event before the resulting flood obliterated villages, roads, bridges and power facilities. Authorities have begun temporarily burying unidentified victims after taking photographs, DNA samples and forensic records. Families continue searching hospitals, mortuaries and rescue centres for their missing loved ones as the operation enters its sixth day. Stay connected with the Irish Mirror for the latest Irish news, crime, politics, sport, entertainment and real-life stories. Visit: https://irishmirror.ie/ Sign up to our newsletters: https://irishmirror.ie/newsletter-pre...