As water, concrete and debris swept through the darkness, threatening to sweep him off his feet, Ram Chandra gripped tightly onto one of the crosspieces on the roof of the tunnel he was working on on the banks of Nepal’s Trishuli River.
His quick reaction may have saved his life.
He and the small group of colleagues he was with were a few hundred meters from the exit.
“The water level was rising, and it was difficult to move my legs. If I had let go of that step, I would have fallen.”
He grabbed a sheet of tin to put something under his feet, and the group passed it around the group, inching forward, rung by rung, over the course of six hours.
“There were six of us, but later we found someone else at the entrance to the tunnel,” he said, adding that by the time they got out, the water had taken away their clothes.
During the day, they saw the devastation left by the flood’s aftermath and the river still surging below, blackened with debris, ice and silt.
It was the deadliest natural disaster to hit Nepal in years, causing massive flooding in the mountains above and cascading 62 miles (100 kilometers) downstream, killing hundreds and burying entire regions.
Among the missing are more than 900 workers like Chandra who worked on a number of hydropower projects that drilled deep into the world’s highest mountain ranges to harness the deadly energy unleashed by rushing rivers.
Some 279 workers at the hydropower plant were rescued or managed to trudge their way out through mud and mud tunnels. But some are worried about being trapped.
At the Trishuli 3A hydroelectric power plant, searchers spent the night until Sunday digging holes, pumping in air and dropping food in hopes of contacting anyone who may be trapped inside the tunnel.
Madan Singh Buddha had just finished his night shift at Upper Trishuli Tunnel No. 2 when the deluge hit.
“I looked outside and saw water, so I started running up the hill,” he told CNN after being taken from the disaster area by helicopter on Sunday.
“The hill was full of rocks with grass growing between them. We were holding on to the grass as we climbed.”
“Those who couldn’t climb out were swept away.”
Then began a desperate and confused search of colleagues.
Madan Singh Budha, Ram Chandra and about 15 other rescued hydraulic workers were from Jumla in far western Nepal, CNN reported. The region, with its corn terraces clinging to steep mountainsides and close-knit village communities, looks like a world away from where the disaster occurred.
Everyone in the group had lost a relative or friend.
Many, like Chandra, lost their clothes in the rushing water and were wearing pants, shirts and sandals borrowed from villagers who fled to safety.
Bhakti Ram Bohara is one of the survivors.
As he explains, he is in the minority.
He estimated about 1,000 people are working on his and other projects nearby.
Only about 100 of them were able to escape.
Among the missing was his brother-in-law. They worked on the same team, spent weeks at a time away from their families, and sent money back to their home villages.
“His wife is my sister and she’s pregnant,” he said, crying.
Tour guide Amar Bista was not working in the tunnels, but dozens of his family and friends were at the scene and rushed to the scene as soon as they heard the news of the disaster.
Finding out who was missing and who was safe, and bringing them out was an almost impossible task.
He hadn’t slept in four days, he told CNN as he stood with a group of people who helped rescue him.
“They’re all from my area,” he said tearfully, pointing to the men standing silently around him.
When they arrived at the scene by helicopter, they were shocked by the scale of the disaster.
“People still have hope,” he said, referring to media reports of people being rescued from the worst-hit areas. “But the reality is nothing.”
“There are a lot of sleepless nights (crying). Like my cousins and sisters, they lost a child. Like any 18-year-old, you can only imagine,” he said.
As he spoke, military and civilian helicopters were constantly roaring overhead, carrying out a never-ending mission to rescue survivors and dead. He said he appreciated the work of the authorities.
At the disaster scene, rescue required the almost unthinkable. It’s a return to the tunnels where so many people lost their lives.
“Nobody wants to go back there,” he said. “But they want their friends back.”
Late Sunday, the group boarded a bus back to the capital, Kathmandu. This is the first step on the multi-day journey back to Jumla and his family by land.
“I want people to know that we did our best to bring our friend back,” Amar said, his voice shaking. “Even a dead body.”
