Race against time to find workers missing in Nepal’s hydropower tunnels. Here’s what we know | CNN

Hopes are fading for a quick rescue operation as Nepali crews and foreign specialists race to find scores of workers feared trapped alive inside hydropower tunnels in Nepal, after thick mud buried the facilities during last week’s devastating flash floods. Around 900 workers are missing at various hydropower projects that run along the Trishuli River, which winds through multiple districts in the remote and mountainous area, the country’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA) said Thursday. A local police chief in one of Nepal’s worst-hit districts warned on Thursday the likelihood of finding the workers alive was declining, but said “we are trying our best.” It’s not clear how many of the missing workers were inside the deep and heavily reinforced tunnels when the water hit. It’s also unclear how many of the workers may be still alive, with search and rescue efforts complicated by poor weather, mud, and the loss of critical infrastructure like roads and bridges. “Tunnels are filled with liquid like mud. It’s not possible to complete this task in two or three days. By observing the situation, I see this may not even be completed in thr