“In the area of the tunnels that we’re accessing at the moment, they’re very close to where the tsunami or explosion or whatever you want to call it happened. So we weren’t expecting to find anybody alive there.”
Dix is also president of Underground Works Chambers, which provides specialist advice on high-risk underground infrastructure.
He said the current plan is to climb into larger areas further inside the complex where the turbine and control rooms are – where workers may have taken shelter.
“That’s what we’re pinning our hopes on at the moment,” he said, adding that the situation changes minute to minute as the data gets updated.
“We’re banking that we still have time,” he said.
Dix was also involved in the November 2023 rescue of 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara Tunnel in India’s Uttarakhand state.
But he said the situation in Nepal is vastly different.
“In the Silkyara rescue, we were dealing with a tunnel that had collapsed. Here we’re dealing with tunnels that haven’t collapsed, but a world (where) outside has basically collapsed. It’s completely reversed.”
The rock was also soft in Uttarakhand, whereas in Nepal, “it’s either mud or it’s rocks the size of a house”, said Dix.
He said rescuers are drawing on technology such as satellite imagery and computer modelling, while helicopters are being used to move equipment into areas cut off by destroyed roads.
But sophisticated technology can only go so far.
“In the end, it will be men … crawling along with shovels, digging a hole,” he said. “In the end, it’s about people helping other people.”
Dix said workers trapped underground should have access to water, while large spaces within the tunnel complex are likely to contain air.
His priority is to bore a hole into areas where the workers may be, allowing rescuers to establish contact and deliver water, food, medicine and give survivors some hope.
“They’ll be starting to lose hope, and hope’s the most important thing from their point of view.”
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