Nepal floods: US rescue team joins search for survivors trapped in Chilime hydropower tunnels

A 13member rescue team from the USbased Crisis Response International has arrived in Nepal to assist search and rescue operations at critical hydropower tunnel sites in the Chilime area of Syabrubesi in Rasuwa district where authorities believe survivors may still be trapped following the devastating flash floodsThe team plans to use hightechnology listening equipment to detect possible signs of life inside the tunnels Specialised safety teams are also expected to enter the affected areas as search operations continueThe deployment comes as Nepal continues to deal with the aftermath of the catastrophic floods which have claimed more than 1100 lives according to Nepal PoliceUS team to use listening equipment to search for survivorsRescue team member Ferrin Cole said the team planned to travel by helicopter to the hydropower tunnels and use specialised listening equipment to identify sounds that could indicate the presence of survivorsThe Nepali people are incredibly resilient and they are doing an amazing job at rescues And we get to be a part of serving them today There are families here that lost their lives and that is extremely hard The Indian teams that are here serving Thank you for being here You are amazing We have heard nothing but good things about your search and rescue teams he told ANIHe said the rescue operation would focus on determining whether there were any signs of life deeper inside the tunnelsThe plan today is to get on a helicopter and go to the hydro tunnels where they believe theres still life And so we have hightechnology listening equipment to listen for sounds of life And then the safety teams to go in and check he addedRescue teams face safety challenges inside tunnelsAnother member of the team Derrick Spencer said rescuers had already reached the entrance of the tunnel but found that further operations would require additional safety measuresSo far there has been a team go to the entrance of the tunnel and begin back in and they realised that they needed to be roped off so they wanted people to go back in further We are partnering with some of the locals and the armed police and some of the people here Spencer told ANIThe difficult terrain and conditions inside the tunnels have added to the complexity of the search with specialised safety arrangements needed before rescuers can move deeper into the affected areasLocal authorities and security personnel are working alongside international rescue teams as efforts continue to locate people who may still be trappedNepal flood death toll rises to 1127Meanwhile the death toll from the devastating floods in Nepal has risen to 1127 according to Nepal PoliceAuthorities said 348 bodies have been recovered from Chitwan followed by 217 from Nawalparasi East and 190 from Nawalparasi WestOther recoveries include 155 bodies from Nuwakot 66 from Gorkha 59 from Dhading 45 from Rasuwa and 38 from Tanahun Nepal Police also reported that nine bodies had been recovered in IndiaOf the bodies recovered so far only 95 have been identified and handed over to their familiesVolunteers set up communication point for families in BidurAs search operations continue volunteers in Bidur have set up a small help point to assist families searching for relatives who remain missingThe initiative organised by a group of young volunteers under the banner of Youth Initiative provides mobile phone charging facilities and basic communication services to people trying to obtain information about missing family membersThe volunteers have arranged around 10 keypad phones and batteries along with charging facilities powered by solar batteriesThe service is aimed at helping people who lost their phones during the floods or whose devices ran out of battery while they were travelling or waiting for updatesYoung volunteers assist people searching for relativesRoshan 27 and Shugam 24 both from Kathmandu are among the young people involved in the initiativeThe volunteers said they had already assisted several people who arrived in Bidur in search of relatives missing since the flash floodsWith inputs from ANI