More than a week after a massive flash flood triggered by a glacial collapse devastated Nepal’s Trishuli valley on August 26, 2024, an ad-hoc network of engineers is utilizing a WhatsApp group to guide rescuers searching for survivors inside destroyed hydroelectric tunnels, according to reports from Reuters.
The WhatsApp Infrastructure Behind Emergency Coordination
The messaging group was established by engineers prior to the disaster, which sent a wall of water, mud, and rocks crashing through the valley. It has since evolved into a critical operational tool alongside helicopters and heavy machinery. Authorities are racing against time to find survivors among the roughly 900 people reported missing across six hydroelectric facilities, including at least three that were still under construction.
The sheer scale of the disaster has complicated rescue logistics. The flood deposited tons of mud and debris into the valley, obscuring the physical locations of tunnel entrances designed to route water or provide access to the installations.
On a Saturday following the disaster, a government official posted directly to the engineer chat: “Can you send me the layout plans of Chilime.” Within minutes, a member of the expanded group—which now numbers over 500 participants—replied with the machinery hall blueprints and access tunnel specifications for the Chilime project.
This exchange and others were reviewed by Reuters during interviews with a dozen individuals, including government and military officials, engineers, survivors, and relatives of missing personnel.
Subsurface Obstacles and Recovery Operations
Accessing the affected subterranean infrastructure presents extreme engineering hurdles. “The flood altered the terrain around the tunnels and changed their structure, while mud, rocks, earth, and other debris accumulated inside,” Nepalese army spokesperson Raja Ram Basnet stated to Reuters. “This is not a normal tunnel closure.”
At the 22 MW Chilime hydroelectric plant near the Chinese border, visual evidence from Reuters showed debris reaching nearly to the ceiling just short of the main tunnel entrance. While no survivors have yet been pulled from the Chilime tunnels or other facilities further down the valley, the Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal noted that at least eight people could be trapped at Chilime. Meanwhile, a Nepal Electricity Authority official indicated that 46 individuals might be stranded at the Rasuwagadhi hydroelectric plant further south.
Rescue teams at Rasuwagadhi managed to advance 250 meters into a tunnel before encountering a complete blockage. “We are trying to re-enter it to look for people,” said Amshu Kiran Shahi, a board member of the Nepal Electricity Authority, adding that 46 workers could be trapped inside a chamber with potential access to food and water.
An anonymous Nepal Electricity Authority official confirmed that rescue units also consulted former plant employees via the WhatsApp group regarding tunnel layouts, noting that the shared documents proved directly useful.
Mapping Complex Networks and Tracking the Missing
At the Upper Trishuli 3A hydroelectric project, crews spent nearly six days reaching the blocked tunnel entrance. According to Shahi, responders have since attempted to pump oxygen through lines into any reachable cavities in case survivors remain trapped. Reuters documentation from Thursday captured excavators working to clear massive boulders from a tunnel portal.
Survival stories from the ground highlight the speed of the flash flood. Jan Jiwan Thakur, a civil engineer at Upper Trishuli 1, recalled being warned moments before the surge swept down the valley, allowing him and roughly 100 others to scramble up a hillside. “We simply fled toward the hillside and, after two or three minutes, when we looked down, everything was gone,” he said. “The flood debris had entirely covered our office area.”
Dhan Bahadur Tamang managed to escape via a tunnel at the same facility as equipment and pipes were thrown about by the force of the water. Relying on his internal knowledge of the subterranean layout, he and others found an exit, though he reported encountering bodies during his underground escape.
Beyond technical routing data, the WhatsApp group serves as an ad-hoc registry. Members have shared names and mobile phone numbers of missing workers, requesting that government officials coordinate with telecommunications authorities to trace their last recorded device locations.
The flood ultimately wiped out a portion of Nepal’s total power generation capacity, destroying six distinct hydroelectric sites along the valley. As heavy machinery continues clearing debris, families await word of their relatives. Rajesh Shrestha, whose 30-year-old son Rajish worked as an environmental engineer at Upper Trishuli 1, expressed the lingering strain: “I only survive on the hope that he will return.”
