Rescue teams recovered four bodies from a Chilime Hydropower tunnel three weeks after the Aug. 26 flash flood. Officials say five additional bodies were located elsewhere and recovery teams are being sent; overall, 1,403 bodies have been recovered while 6,150 people remain missing. Families are pressuring the government to speed up tunnel recoveries and to declare the missing dead so relatives can obtain death certificates; thick mud, debris and damaged infrastructure are slowing efforts. Reconstruction is estimated to cost about $4.78 billion.
Rescuers Recover 4 Bodies From Chilime Hydropower Tunnel as Families Demand Answers
In this handout photograph provided by the Nepal Army, Nepalese soldiers carry the bodies of workers recovered during a search and rescue operation at the Chilime hydropower project following earlier flash floods in Nepal's Rasuwa district, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (Nepal Army via AP)(Nepal Army via AP)
Rescue teams pulled four bodies from a tunnel at the Chilime Hydropower plant as searches continued for people still unaccounted for three weeks after a catastrophic flash flood struck on Aug. 26.
In this handout photograph provided by the Nepal Army, Nepalese soldiers undertake a search and rescue operation at the Chilime hydropower project following earlier flash floods in Nepal's Rasuwa district, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (Nepal Army via AP)(Nepal Army via AP)
Nepal's army said the bodies were recovered on Wednesday from the Chilime tunnel on the Trishuli River. Nepal’s disaster management agency reported that five more bodies were located at a different site and that equipment was being dispatched to retrieve them.
In this handout photograph provided by the Nepal Army, Nepalese soldiers undertake a search and rescue operation at the Chilime hydropower project following earlier flash floods in Nepal's Rasuwa district, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (Nepal Army via AP)(Nepal Army via AP)
Authorities say the total number of bodies recovered since the disaster has reached 1,403, while 6,150 people remain missing, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.
In this handout photograph provided by the Nepal Army, Nepalese soldiers undertake a search and rescue operation at the Chilime hydropower project following earlier flash floods in Nepal's Rasuwa district, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (Nepal Army via AP)(Nepal Army via AP)
Families of the missing have staged rallies and are pressing the government to accelerate recovery operations inside hydropower tunnels. Many are also urging officials to legally declare the missing dead so relatives can obtain death certificates needed to pursue legal claims, perform religious rites and gain emotional closure.
Lobby walls at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu are plastered with photographs of hundreds of missing people as relatives visit daily for updates. Usha Khatri, whose husband Indra Bahadur was working as a cook with pilgrims when the flood struck near the Nepal–China border, has been traveling to towns along the river and to recovery sites in search of him.
"The government has not done much for us. They have not met us or given any information or any assurances. I am by myself searching for my husband," Khatri said.
The flood damaged 13 hydropower plants and swept away or trapped many workers in tunnels and other sites. Thick mud, piled debris and damaged infrastructure have severely hampered access, complicating rescue and recovery inside the tunnels.
Rescuers did find survivors: two Nepali workers were located alive on Sept. 4, and a Chinese worker was pulled out alive a day later. The government estimates reconstruction costs at approximately $4.78 billion.
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