Doosan Helicopter Deployed for Nepal Search for the First Time... Government Conducts Simultaneous Ground and Drone Operations

Privately Secured Helicopter Conducts Search Around Weir Dam and Office Building
Government Ground Search Team Enters Area Near Accident Site, Drones Also Deployed
Six Doosan Enerbility Employees Still Missing

The search for the nine South Koreans who went missing following the massive flooding in Nepal has entered its seventh day. During this time, a helicopter from Doosan Enerbility, previously grounded due to local aviation restrictions, was deployed to the field search for the first time. The missing include six Doosan Enerbility employees and three employees from Korea South-East Power.

On the 29th, the government's joint rapid response team boarded a helicopter at the domestic airport helicopter landing site in Kathmandu, Nepal for a search operation. Photo by Yonhap News Agency, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

According to industry sources on September 1, Doosan Enerbility received flight authorization from Nepalese authorities the day before and dispatched a privately secured civil helicopter to search the area around the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydroelectric Power Plant. This occurred four days after the company began attempting helicopter searches on August 28.

The helicopter surveyed areas around the upper weir dam and office building where some missing employees had worked. Helicopters secured by the government’s joint rapid response team also searched the vicinity of the weir dam, Dunche, and the power plant complex. One Doosan Enerbility employee joined the search aboard the government helicopter as well. As of now, no meaningful clues have been found regarding the whereabouts of the missing.

Ground search operations have also commenced. On the afternoon of the previous day, a nine-member ground search team from the National Fire Agency arrived in Dunche, Rasuwa, near the accident site, and began drone-assisted searches in cooperation with Nepali authorities. This marks the first time since the incident on August 26 that Korean search personnel have accessed the accident area by land. The government and Doosan Enerbility plan to continue requesting flight clearance for helicopters, carrying out aerial, ground, and drone searches concurrently.

The nine Koreans, six from Doosan Enerbility and three from Korea South-East Power, have been unaccounted for since August 26 when massive flooding struck the Rasuwa region in northern Nepal. The accident site is the construction area for the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydroelectric Power Plant, for which Doosan Enerbility is responsible for engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC).

The previous day, one body was found inside the power plant tunnel. A Chinese tunnel rescue team discovered the body about 300 meters into the tunnel during their search. The nationality and identity of the deceased have yet to be confirmed. It also remains unclear whether the body is related to the missing Koreans.

Doosan Enerbility has dispatched two additional local response personnel, increasing the response team from 14 to 16 members. Of ten employees who had been isolated but later rescued, nine returned to Korea the previous day, while the site manager remained in Nepal to support the ongoing search. Jeongwon Park, Chairman of Doosan Group, and Jiyeon Park, Vice Chairman of Doosan Group and Chairman and CEO of Doosan Enerbility, are also on-site overseeing the rescue and search operations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.