Rescuers in Nepal are focusing on three hydropower project tunnels where they believe dozens of workers could be trapped, authorities said yesterday, two weeks after a devastating flood killed hundreds and left thousands missing in the Himalayan country and in neighbouring China’s Tibet region.

At least 1,399 people have been killed by the mudslide and more than 5,400 are missing in Nepal and Tibet. The toll includes 43 people who died on the Chinese side and 519 missing there.

“Our search operation is focussed on finding survivors, including in tunnels. Our bigger focus is on the Chilime hydroelectric project, where we believe people are trapped, because there was a canteen, residency and arrangements for food,” Dharma Raj Upreti, chief of the country’s disaster authority, told Reuters.

Teams were also focused on tunnels of the Upper Trishuli 3A and 3B projects, which are linked by an interconnected tunnel, said Upreti. “Oxygen has been supplied to these tunnels through pipes and we have sent new equipment needed for the operation (to open a passage into them),” he said.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah vowed there would be no let-up in the rescue operations.