Tapovan, India – Indian rescuers fought Tuesday to dig tons of stone and mud to reach survivors in a suffocating tunnel in the Himalayas after a devastating lightning strike flood probably triggered by a glacial explosion. More than 170 people were missing two days after a wall of water and debris fell on a valley in northern Uttarakhand, destroying bridges and roads, hitting two hydropower plants and killing 32.
The disaster was blamed on rapidly melting glaciers in the Himalayan region, exacerbated by global warming. Indian researchers said that although it initially appeared, the collapse of a glacial lake caused the sudden flood, probably a landslide and an avalanche collapsed in the glacier, which unleashed the waterfall on the valley.
The construction of dams and the dredging of riverbeds for sand and the clearing of trees for new roads – some to strengthen defense at the Chinese border – could also have played a role in destabilizing the area.
AP
Most of the missing were employed at two of the many hydroelectric plants built around Uttarakhand, a mountainous and ecologically fragile state, slightly smaller than Switzerland.
Hundreds of rescue workers were involved in the operation across the state, using helicopters equipped with high-definition cameras that penetrated the surface, as well as sniffer dogs.
On Tuesday, the targeting tried to locate and extract 34 workers that rescuers hoped were still alive in their air pockets in a tunnel system filled with ice water and debris. Workers struggled throughout the day and as darkness fell, the operation was underway.
STRINGER / REUTERS
“We were trying to clear the mud inside the tunnel, but it was difficult,” rescue official PK Tiwari said. “We are trying to use drones and other tools to get a clearer picture of the situation inside.”
Nearby, workers used heavy cars to remove huge boulders from the road, blocking the road to the second power plant where 35 people were missing.
The plant was destroyed and is now a desert covered with viscous gray mud. In a nearby village, four bodies were recovered, including that of a police officer.
Survivor stories
One who did it was 28-year-old Rajesh Kumar, who, along with others, clung to the scaffolding rods in the tunnel for four hours before the water level dropped and he could escape.
“Suddenly there was a whistle … there were shouts, people were telling us to get out. We thought it was a fire. We started running, but the water came out. It was like a Hollywood movie.” Kumar told AFP. .
“We kept telling each other – we don’t have to let go of the rods anyway,” he said from his hospital bed.
Ramesh Negi’s shop was enjoying the sun on Sunday morning when it heard a loud roar and saw a huge wall of water breaking and sweeping a bridge.
Dozens of workers on the riverbed and pastures leading their cattle along the slopes of the mountain disappeared under the sudden flood, he recalls.
“There was dust and screams everywhere,” the 36-year-old told AFP.
Indo-Tibetan Border Police / AP
Mangra, another survivor, remembered hearing a loud, noisy sound and the screams of other colleagues: “Run, run, run!”
The 28-year-old came out of the tunnel, but six friends and neighbors from his village failed.
“I felt the mountain collapse and the Earth move,” Mangra told AFP outside the tunnel, cuts and scratches on his hands and feet.