- 13 rescued in time but 3 more workers still out of contact
26 APRIL 2014 KASKI, NEPAL – Natural Disaster and an unprotected work stations are often result in loss of lives and heavy loss of properties in Nepal. Such incidents are reported many times that construction work of roads, hydro power projects and building has take hundreds of lives yearly, yet government has failed to implement the necessary basic safety major to the companies to follow while they are taking the bid to construct a project.
In the course of building a hydro-power project in western Nepal, some Thirteen of the 16 workers trapped after the tunnel of the under-construction Upper Madikhola Hydropower Project in Sildujure, Kaski, collapsed have been rescued on Saturday morning.
The workers were shut inside when the ceiling caved in breaking the tunnel ribs as huge boulders hit the tunnel some 15 meters from the entry at around 1:30pm on Friday.
Twelve Nepalese and a Chinese national are among those freed, informed Kaski police chief SP Basanta Kumar Lama. They have been admitted to Regional Hospital Pokhara for medical care. They are said to be out of danger.
Those freed from the cave are
- Bishal Gole, 21,
- Devraj Thokar, 25,
- Nawaraj Thokar, 19,
- Ganesh Thapa, 25,
- Manoj Pulami, 29, of Makwanpur district.
- Ramchandra BK, 32, of Kaski,
- Narayan Shrestha, 29, of Dhading,
- Umesh Kumar Rai, 21 of Bhojpur,
- Shiva Raj Tamang, 20, of Udaypur,
- Bishnu Lama, 54, of Hetauda,
- Sujan Bhujel, 18, and
- Sher Bahadur Tamang of Khotang.
- Younzhan Ming, 50. Chinese National
They were freed after almost 14 hrs inside the tunnel at around 3:15 A.M. Saturday morning.
Three others, also trapped in the incident, however, are still out of contact. Excavator operator Sujan Gurung and two others are said to be out of contact.
The hydro-power project, planned to generate 25 megawatt electricity, has a joint investment of the China International Water and Electric Corporation, a subsidiary of the China Three Gorges Corporation, and the Nepali private sector. The project is worth Rs 5.28 billion.
Despite the fact that Nepal is considered the second largest country in natural water resources in the world, its people stays in darkness of 18 plus hours daily as result of load-shading, in which its 40-50 percent house hold only has electricity reach till today.
Source: KOL
