Nepal, Aug. 31 -- When Ram Budha left his younger brother Praveen at their workplace in Rasuwa on Tuesday and returned to Kathmandu, neither imagined it would be their last meeting.

The following day, a devastating flood swept through the Bhotekoshi river system. Twenty-year-old Praveen, who worked at the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project in Hakubesi, disappeared.

Since then, Ram has been searching.

He travelled from Kathmandu to Hakubesi and tried to enter the hydropower project's tunnel, hoping his brother might be trapped inside. But mud had piled up to his chest, forcing him to turn back.

"I stood there and shouted my brother's name, hoping he would answer," Ram said. "I waited for a while, but there was no response. We have no ...