'Helicopters and Drones Deployed'... Rescue Teams Intensify Search for Missing Koreans at Hydropower Plant in 'Nepal Flood Disaster'

12 Days Since the Devastating Flood
Death Toll Reaches 1,372 in Nepal and China

On the 12th day of the massive flood that struck the Himalayan mountainous region along the Nepal-China border, on the 6th (local time), rescue teams from Nepal, the Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT), and others continued operations to search for missing persons, focusing on flood-stricken hydroelectric power plants and surrounding areas.

Over the past two days, the rescue team saved four survivors from areas including power plant tunnels. They are now striving to locate additional missing persons, particularly at the Upper Trishuli (UT)-1 Hydroelectric Power Plant in Bagmati Province, northern-central Nepal, where nine missing Korean employees worked, and its vicinity.

KDRT announced that, according to the testimony of Lu Haitao (49), a Chinese man rescued the previous day from the UT-1 power plant tunnel, there is reportedly one more person nearby, but their fate is unknown.

At the time, the KDRT rescue team, consisting of ten members, first discovered and rescued Mr. Lu inside the tunnel near the UT-1 upper weir dam. In this tunnel, they also recovered one unidentified body and located two other bodies.

Yonhap News Agency

Accordingly, KDRT plans to deploy the ten-member rescue team to the same tunnel again to search for additional survivors and bodies. In addition, a three-person drone team will conduct searches focusing on the power house within the plant.

Korea South-East Power, to which three of the missing Koreans belong, dispatched four ground search teams, totaling 46 people, to comb the mountainous areas surrounding the accident site that day. They also increased the number of ground search personnel nearly twofold by recruiting additional Nepali Sherpas, and deployed drones equipped with thermal imaging and infrared cameras, as well as search dogs.

Doosan Enerbility, whose six missing Korean employees are involved, also deployed one helicopter and two drones that day to intensively search the main camp and Aryu area, where the accommodation and offices for hydropower staff are located.

According to the Associated Press, Nepali authorities believe that among approximately 900 employees missing from 12 hydropower plants, including UT-1, about 500 are trapped in various tunnels.

On that day, Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun held talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs Shishir Kanal in Nepal and requested Nepal's special attention and support for the search for missing Koreans.

He also explained that 130 million won worth of in-kind aid and humanitarian support worth 1 million US dollars (about 1.35 billion won) would be provided through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

Meanwhile, according to the Nepal Disaster Management Authority, as of that morning, the number of fatalities within Nepal totaled 1,341. Including at least 31 deaths in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, the total number of deaths stands at 1,372. The number of missing persons amounts to 4,996 in Nepal and 531 in China, for a total of 5,527.

Initial estimates show that more than 7,500 houses, 48 schools and other public buildings, and about 100 bridges were completely destroyed or lost.

The United Nations (UN) has launched a fundraising effort to support Nepal's flood relief activities, aiming to raise 50 million US dollars (about 6.75 billion won).

KDRT also responded to a request from Nepali authorities by visiting the Nepal Army unit in Batar, Bagmati Province, where the base camp is located, on the morning of the 6th and providing 262 body bags for the recovery of remains.

Yonhap News Agency

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