Nepal flood: Four bodies pulled from hydropower tunnel as families press for answers

Rescuers in Nepal have recovered four bodies and a body part from the tunnel of a hydropower plant on the Trishuli River, more than three weeks after flash flooding devastated the area, the army said on Wednesday.

The Chilime Hydropower plant was among 13 hydropower facilities damaged when the river burst its banks on August 26. Many workers were either swept away or trapped by the surging water and debris.

Separately, the national disaster management agency said five more bodies had been located at another site, with equipment being dispatched to recover them. The confirmed death toll since the flooding has reached 1,403, while 6,150 people remain missing, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

Efforts to reach those trapped in the tunnels have been slowed by thick mud, debris and damaged infrastructure. Two Nepali workers were found alive on September 4, days after the flood, and a Chinese worker was rescued from a separate area the following day.

Families of the missing have grown increasingly frustrated with the pace of recovery. They have held rallies and are calling on the government to declare the missing dead so they can obtain death certificates, which would allow them to proceed with legal matters and religious rites and provide some emotional closure.

At Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, the lobby walls are covered with photographs of hundreds of missing people as relatives gather seeking news.

Usha Khatri, whose husband Indra Bahadur was working as a cook with a group of pilgrims near the Nepal-China border when the flood struck, said she has been searching for him in towns along the river where bodies have been recovered.

"The government has not done much for us. They have not met us or given any information or any assurances. I am by myself searching for my husband," she said.

The government estimates reconstruction costs at around $4.78 billion.