A worker has gone missing while another one sustained injuries in an accident inside the tunnel of 86 megawatt Solu Khola (Dudh Koshi) Hydroelectric Project in Solukhumbu.

The accident occurred at around 3:45 am on Thursday when the extension of an excavator carrying a pipe snapped inside the tunnel at the project construction site in Panchan. The workers in the carrying bucket of the excavator fell into the tunnel.

The worker who went missing in the tunnel has been identified as Rakesh Chaudhary, 24, of Kolhabi Municipality-1 of Bara.

According to police, a joint team of Nepal Army and Nepal Police has been mobilised for his search and rescue.

The injured Angat Rai Tharu, 20, of Paterwa Sugauli Rural Municipality-4, Parsa has been taken to Mission Hospital based in Okhaldhunga for further treatment, informed Deputy Superintendent Kabit Katwal of District Police Office, Solukhumbu.

“The injured Tharu's health is stable,” said Katuwal.

This is the second such accident in the project area in a month. About a month ago, two men were killed and one injured when a pipe exploded during a routine test after the completion of tunnel work.

Subash Raj Regmi, 26, an engineer of Machhapuchhre Metal and Mechanical Company and Arjun Thapa, 29, a consultant engineer of Kavre had died in the accident while a project manager sustained injuries.