Nepali teams continue searching for survivors of devastating Himalayan glacial floods in Kathmandu on Sept. 1. The death toll has surpassed 1,000, with dozens feared trapped inside tunnels of hydroelectric power stations.NEPALESE ARMY
Korean officials are using cell phone location data, helicopters, drones and ground teams in an intensified search for nine Korean nationals still missing after last week's flash flood in Nepal.
The search has been slowed by a wide disaster zone, steep mountain terrain and deep deposits of mud and debris. The Korean rapid response team is working with Nepali authorities to use the missing workers' last known cell tower records and phone location data to narrow the search area.
The missing nine, employees of Korea South-East Power and Doosan Enerbility, worked at the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower project in Nepal's Rasuwa district and have been out of contact since the flood struck on Aug. 26. Upper Trishuli-1 is a 216-megawatt run-of-river project on the Trishuli River.
A glacier failure high in the Himalayas likely triggered the flood, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The 44-member Korea Disaster Relief Team, dispatched on Tuesday, arrived at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Wednesday. It brought five rescue dogs, high-resolution drones, acoustic and video detectors designed to locate people buried under debris and thermal imaging equipment.
The team is scheduled to work for about 10 days, and the deployment could be extended depending on conditions on the ground.
Members of the Korea Disaster Relief Team, sent to help search for nine missing Korean workers, arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Sept. 2.MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
A Korean rapid response team already in Nepal has been working with the Nepali Army around the upper weir dam and workers' camp at Upper Trishuli-1. The teams have used helicopters for aerial searches and conducted detailed searches on foot.
Korean police officers sent with the rapid response team have interviewed Nepali survivors and local officials for information that could help identify where the missing workers may be. Some members of the ground team have moved to Kathmandu to closely analyze high-resolution drone footage from the disaster zone.
Authorities had reported no breakthrough in locating any of the nine as of Wednesday.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
