Raj Chhetri heard a strange noise inside Tunnel No. 3 and asked to get out. His Chinese supervisor told him to wait, saying he would go check. He never returned.
Minutes later, a torrent of water, mud and debris surged into the tunnel of the Trishuli-3A hydroelectric project, in Rasuwa District, Nepal, sweeping away vehicles, tools and the nearly 265 workers who were trapped inside. It was August 26, 2026, and that noise Chhetri heard was only the beginning of a disaster that so far has left more than 750 dead and more than 3,000 missing throughout the country, according to Al Jazeera. Among them, 933 workers on hydroelectric projects.
Chhetri survived and shared his account: he believes many of those deaths could have been avoided if the Chinese side of the project, overseen by Power China Corporation, had issued an early warning. No one has officially confirmed his account, but the question he left hanging in Nepal is simple: why was the man who said ‘I’m going to check’ the only one to get out in time?