A rescuer works at the entrance of a tunnel at Chilime Hydropower Plant as rescue operations continue for people trapped inside following deadly flash floods and a mudslide, in Rasuwa, Nepal, on Aug. 29, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video.REUTERS/YONHAP
They were supposed to be heading up the Himalayas. Instead, Sherpas who make their living guiding climbers to some of the world’s highest peaks put their climbing season aside to descend into mud-filled tunnels in a desperate search for people trapped after catastrophic floods swept through Nepal.
The mountain guides are using ropes and safety techniques honed at high altitude to search tunnels choked with mud after fears that hundreds could be trapped in a hydropower tunnel.
Among them is Jenjen Lama, who has summited Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak at 8,848 meters (29,029 feet), seven times.
Lama flew by helicopter to the upper reaches of the Trishuli River on Saturday to search a tunnel at the Chilime hydropower plant.
On Tuesday, he searched the Mailung Khola area, home to the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower plant under construction by Korea South-East Power and Doosan Enerbility.
Nine missing Koreans were working at the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project construction site in Bagmati when the floods hit. Six are Doosan Enerbility employees, and the other three are from Korea South-East Power. The missing workers have been out of contact since the flood struck on Aug. 26.
"I have been in the Mailung Khola to search and rescue the Korean people," Lama told JoongAng Ilbo during a phone interview on Wednesday. “We tried to go inside the tunnel, but the tunnel was already blocked. The tunnel gate was blocked by huge huge rocks.”
The team was able to retrieve a body in Chilime.
A rescuer works at the entrance of a tunnel at Chilime Hydropower Plant as rescue operations continue for people trapped inside following deadly flash floods and a mudslide, in Rasuwa, Nepal, on Aug. 29, in this screen capture obtained from a social media video.REUTERS/YONHAP
“We found one dead body outside of the tunnel gate," Lama added. "There's a lot of [personal belongings] stuff like sandals and some bag and many things inside the tunnel."
The belongings offered haunting signs of those who had been there, but reaching farther into the tunnel proved nearly impossible.
"We tried to approach inside the tunnel, […] we have reached 100-plus meters, around 120 meters," Lama added. "It is really hard to go inside because of the mud and liquid. And the tunnel has been blocked. They cannot go inside. The search method is that we fixed up the rope inside the tunnel and we went inside the tunnel, but that was real hard to approach inside because of the mud."
The tunnels at the hydropower plants in Chilime and Mailung Khola are believed to extend hundreds of meters.
The Sherpas did not wait to be asked. They volunteered to help after the floods, ready to trade the mountains for mud-filled tunnels.
A rescuer is covered in mud at the entrance of a tunnel at Chilime Hydropower Plant as rescue operations continue for people trapped inside following deadly flash floods and a mudslide, in Rasuwa, Nepal, on Aug. 29, in this screen capture obtained from a social media video.REUTERS/YONHAP
The Nepal National Mountain Guide Association asked the Nepalese government to deploy them, but treacherous conditions kept them waiting for four days.
Six mountain guides, including Lama, finally reached Chilime alongside the Simrik Helicopter team on Saturday, according to the Nepalese media outlet Onlinekhabar.
The Sherpas drew on their high-altitude climbing skills to tackle the mud-choked tunnel. They initially tried to push through in triple-layer mountaineering boots that reached their knees. But with mud more than 1.2 meters deep, even their heavy climbing gear was no match for the conditions.
The guides then installed fixed safety ropes like those used in high-altitude climbing and laid boards over the mud to make their way inside. But the search yielded no survivors or bodies inside the tunnel.
Mud-filled videos posted by Lama on his personal Facebook show just how harsh the conditions were.
A rescuer is covered in mud near the entrance of a tunnel at Chilime Hydropower Plant as rescue operations continue for people trapped inside following deadly flash floods and a mudslide, in Rasuwa, Nepal, on Aug. 29, in this screen capture obtained from a social media video.REUTERS/YONHAP
“We all wish we could magically search for and rescue everyone in need,” Lama wrote on Facebook before heading to the tunnel. “But as human beings, we cannot always do what we imagine or what our hearts desperately want us to do. Still, we are continuously doing our best to help in every way we can.”
Virtually cut off from the outside world, the Sherpas spent days searching and survived on chiura — steamed rice that is flattened and dried — and snacks.
Lama returned to Kathmandu on Wednesday and is now waiting to see whether he will be sent back into the tunnels.
“Amid exhaustion, pain, and hunger, I am trying to move forward alongside the affected families — with their tears, their pain, and their hope,” Lama wrote on Facebook.
Ang Dorge Sherpa, an adviser to the Sherpa Association of Nepal, said the Sherpas volunteered after mountaineering organizations took the lead in organizing the effort.
Jenjen Lama, center, and fellow Sherpas eat chiura, or flattened rice, while searching a tunnel at the Chilime Hydropower Plant in Nepal.SCREEN CAPTURE
“The Nepal Mountaineering Association and the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association took the lead in getting Sherpas to voluntarily join efforts to rescue people trapped inside the tunnels,” Sherpa said during a phone interview with JoongAng Ilbo. “Soldiers are now using equipment to clear mud from inside the tunnels.”
“They are using small excavators, but I understand the work is progressing slowly because the mud is generally 4 to 5 feet deep, and in some places there is just as much sand,” Sherpa said.
Jenjen Lama, a Sherpa and a volunteer for the flood response team, searches the entrance to a tunnel at the Chilime Hydropower Plant in Rasuwa, northern Nepal.SCREEN CAPTURE
The Sherpas were supposed to be preparing for a very different mission. They had planned to join expeditions to Mount Manaslu, an 8,163-meter Himalayan peak, for the autumn climbing season. Instead, they put their livelihoods on hold to join the post-flood rescue effort.
It has not yet been decided whether additional Sherpa teams will be deployed.
“The military is clearing a route, so there is little chance that another team will be sent in immediately,” Sherpa said.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
