Nepal flash floods LIVE: Death toll reaches 781; rescuers drill through debris towards trapped tunnel workers - The Hindu

**Nepal Flash Floods Claim 781 Lives as Rescue Teams Dig Through Debris to Save Trapped Tunnel Workers**

*Kathmandu, Aug 30 2026* – A catastrophic combination of monsoon rains and a sudden glacial‑lake outburst flood (GLOF) on the Tibetan Plateau has turned Nepal’s river valleys into a lethal torrent. The disaster, which began on the night of Aug 28 when a moraine‑dammed lake on the eastern side of the plateau burst, unleashed a wall of water that surged downstream through the Seti and Karnali basins. According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the death toll has risen to **781**, with more than 2 000 people injured and thousands displaced from villages across the western and mid‑western regions. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed that the flash flood was amplified by a concurrent debris avalanche that added millions of cubic metres of rock and sediment to the flow, dramatically increasing its destructive power.

Amid the chaos, rescue crews have focused on a high‑risk operation at the **Maitri‑2 hydro‑tunnel** near the town of Doti, where six workers were reported missing after the tunnel entrance collapsed under the surge of water and debris. The Nepalese Army’s Engineering Corps, supported by international urban‑search‑and‑rescue teams from India and Japan, began drilling a 12‑metre shaft through the jammed rubble on Aug 29. By early morning on Aug 30, rescuers had reached a sealed chamber and reported hearing faint tapping from the trapped men, who have been surviving on limited emergency rations supplied in the tunnel’s safety locker. The operation proceeds around the clock, with divers navigating flooded tunnels and helicopter crews air‑lifting medical supplies to makeshift camps on the riverbanks.

The disaster has also reignited concerns over trans‑border water‑resource management. While the GLOF originated on the Tibetan plateau, the **People’s Republic of China** has limited data sharing on glacier melt rates and lake‑level monitoring, hampering regional early‑warning systems. Nepal’s Ministry of Energy has called for a joint task force to improve cross‑border hydrological surveillance and to enforce stricter safety protocols at the nation’s expanding network of hydro‑electric projects, which now account for more than 30 % of its electricity generation. International aid agencies, including the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), have mobilised emergency funds, but officials warn that reconstruction and long‑term mitigation will require sustained cooperation and substantial investment.