Rasuwa, August 31, 2026 — Ninety-three personnel associated with the Rasuwagadhi Hydropower Station remain missing following the devastating flash flood in the Bhote Koshi River, according to engineer Tika Paudel.
The missing include station head Santosh Adhikari, 51 staff members and 42 workers, Paudel said, describing the scale of the loss as devastating for the project and its employees.
Paudel has also lost his wife, Kabita Neupane Paudel, who worked as a teacher at Nepal National Basic School in Timure. He said the disaster had taken away almost all of his colleagues as well as his wife.
Paudel himself was away from Rasuwa when the flood struck. He had travelled to Kathmandu two days earlier to seek medical treatment for his daughter, which he said ultimately spared his own life. He is now facing what he described as profound grief following the loss of his wife and colleagues.
According to Paudel, the flood struck suddenly in the early morning, before the start of regular office hours. He believes many of the missing personnel and their family members may have been staying in residential quarters in Timure when the flood hit.
