Five Bodies Recovered from Flood-Hit Chilime Hydropower Tunnel

Kathmandu: The rescue team recovered a total of five human bodies from the tunnel of the Chilime Hydropower Project in Rasuwa on Wednesday, with an additional body recovering on late afternoon of the day.

The Directorate of Public Relations and Information of the Nepali Army stated that a diving team entered 130 meters into the tunnel to retrieve the body. Earlier on Wednesday, divers had recovered four bodies and a human body part.

The rescue team also found a severed leg of a human body. Previously, on August 29, the Army had retrieved one body and a human body part from the entrance of the Chilime tunnel.

A total of eleven hydropower projects in Rasuwa and Nuwakot were affected by severe flooding in Bhotekoshi River that originated from China's Lhende River on August 26.

According to the Independent Power Producers' Association Nepal (IPPAN), people were trapped inside the tunnels of all eleven projects. Search and rescue operations are currently underway at six of these projects under the leadership of the Nepali Army.