Search-and-rescue operations halted as another dam collapses along Nepal-China border

A dam has collapsed for the second time in two days in the Himalayan region along the Nepal-China border, while nine Koreans remain missing as of Friday afternoon. Nepali authorities suspended rescue operations and ordered on-site personnel and residents to evacuate immediately after the latest incident.

Nepali authorities had received information that another dam had collapsed on the Chinese side of the border in the Tibet Autonomous Region, according to AFP. Nepali authorities suspended rescue operations for 90 minutes, and helicopters that were searching for survivors in the Rasuwa area of Bagmati Province in northern Nepal were grounded.

Local residents also rushed to evacuate. Villagers in the Rasuwa area were seen hurrying to higher ground to escape the danger, according to Reuters.

“We need to determine where the most people have been rescued so far and where survivors have been found,” Chae Jin, a professor in the department of fire safety at Mokwon University, told the JoongAng Ilbo on Friday. “Search personnel need to be deployed first to areas where there is a high probability of finding survivors.”

Chae made the comments before a government joint rapid response team of 11 personnel from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Fire Agency and National Police Agency, along with eight employees of Doosan Enerbility, began full-fledged search operations at the site on Friday.

Experts point to areas downstream of the Trishuli and Bhotekoshi rivers that need particular attention.

“The missing people are known to have last been working at the construction site of the Upper Trishuli-1 hydroelectric power project, but given the massive torrents and debris flows that swept through the area, there is a high possibility that they were carried downstream,” said Kong Ha-sung, a professor in the Department of Fire and Disaster Prevention at Woosuk University. “Search teams should first examine sections such as bends in the valley where vehicles and debris may already have become lodged or could become trapped.”

Drones and helicopters are considered crucial to the search because the rugged valley terrain and the loss of 80 bridges and 40 kilometers (25 miles) of roads make some areas difficult to access using ground personnel alone.

Drones equipped with thermal-imaging cameras can help detect body heat from people obscured by vegetation or debris or during nighttime searches, making them particularly useful for finding survivors. In Korea, this month alone, such drones have been used effectively to find missing older people with dementia in mountainous areas in Jincheon, North Chungcheong, and Ulsan.

Concerns remain about the difficulties posed by conducting disaster response operations in a distant country.

“The use of acoustic and radar-based equipment that detects signs of life could also be considered,” Prof. Chae said. “But such equipment is only effective if the missing people are alive and able to breathe or make sounds.

Even if such advanced equipment can be deployed, it would currently have to be procured locally. Doosan plans to procure helicopters and other equipment locally, according to a company official.

Some are pinning their hopes on the government-dispatched rapid response team, some of whose members are internationally recognized search-and-rescue specialists.

“All five personnel dispatched by the National Fire Agency hold the ‘heavy’ classification under the United Nations International Search and Rescue Advisory Group [Insarag] and operate at collapse and entrapment sites during major disasters overseas,” a National Fire Agency official said. “They are capable of carrying out prolonged, highly challenging rescue operations while independently handling medical care, communications, accommodation and logistics without assistance from the affected country.”

The government is also considering dispatching the Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT), which rescued eight survivors following the devastating 2023 earthquake in Turkey. It also plans to deploy an Air Force KC-330 Cygnus multipurpose aerial refueling tanker capable of simultaneously transporting 300 personnel and around 47 metric tons (52 U.S. tons) of cargo.

“There is also the possibility of secondary flooding, so caution must be exercised during the search,” Kong said.

Experts said the disaster should prompt companies to expand safety management at overseas worksites beyond preventing industrial accidents such as falls and fires to include measures against natural disasters.

“The current hypothesis is that glaciers and rocks upstream collapsed and blocked the river, creating a natural dam, which then burst and caused the massive flooding,” said Jeong Jong-soo, a professor in the Department of Safety and Disaster Management at Soongsil University. “The same pattern of risk was raised during the Blatten landslide in Switzerland in May last year, and given that precedent, companies should actively carry out disaster mitigation efforts in places such as Nepal, where the risk of natural disasters is ever-present.”

Korea currently has the Act on Assistance to the Autonomous Activities of Enterprises for Disaster Mitigation. The law, however, only provides support when companies voluntarily choose to undertake disaster mitigation activities and does not impose obligations or prescribe penalties.

Meanwhile, the Korean government rented six helicopters for search-and-rescue operations, according to the Foreign Ministry. The government team rented three, Doosan Enerbility two and Korea Energy one.

However, the team remains at Kathmandu airport as of Friday afternoon because the Nepali government has not cleared it for lift-off due to safety concerns.

The Foreign Ministry is organizing a meeting with local officials to seek the government's cooperation. The rescue team officers also met with the families of the nine missing Koreans.

One Korean national who had remained at a temporary shelter and one Korean embassy official were also transported to a safe area by a Nepali military helicopter on Friday afternoon, according to the ministry.

Update, Aug. 28: Information about the Korean government's renting of helicopters added.

Update, Aug. 28: Information about the evacuation of two more Korean nationals added.

BY YOON SO-YEON, HEO JEONG-WON, SHIM SEOK-YONG [[email protected]]