A week after nine Koreans went missing in Nepal's massive flooding, the Korean government deployed a 44-member Korea Disaster Relief Team to the site. It is mobilizing rescue dogs, drones, and thermal imaging and acoustic detection equipment to search for the missing.
The Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) arrived in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, at 6:27 a.m. on the 2nd (local time) aboard a military transport aircraft. The 44-member team includes 3 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4 from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and 37 from the National Fire Agency.
Working with Nepalese authorities, the team will conduct search and rescue operations centered on the area where nine Koreans went missing. Moving up the plan by a day, it will head to the Batar campsite in Nuwakot, Bagmati Province, in the north-central region to prepare for deployment. The mission is slated for about 10 days but could be extended depending on on-site conditions.
The team brought five rescue dogs, high-resolution camera drones, buried-person acoustic and video detectors, and thermal imaging detectors. It will also join the 20-member joint rapid response team already dispatched to the area to expand the search range.
The nine Koreans lost contact after large-scale flooding on the 26th of last month. Their workplace is the Upper Trishuli (UT)-1 Hydropower Plant in north-central Nepal. The rapid response team has conducted searches by helicopter, drone, and on foot with the Nepal Army, but no clear results have emerged.
Korea South-East Power Co. (KOEN) and Doosan Enerbility are also using helicopters, drones, and search dogs to sweep the area around the plant. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is discussing with the Nepalese side to obtain location data for the missing persons' mobile phones.
Local searches are continuing for the missing people believed to be trapped in the hydropower plant tunnels. Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority says at least 639 people are missing or stranded across multiple plants. Rescue teams are trying to enter by removing rocks, mud, and debris blocking the tunnels.
But search efforts are hampered by large amounts of mud and debris already piled up inside the tunnels, as well as water inflows during excavation. According to Nepalese authorities, three bodies were found on the 1st in tunnels at some plants.
Across Nepal, at least 1,114 people have died and 3,916 are missing in the flooding. In China, 16 have died and 546 are missing, bringing the total to 1,130 dead and 4,462 missing.