Nepal-Tibet floods: At least 9 South Koreans missing, response team set to depart for Nepal
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
The nine missing workers are employees of the Korea South-East Power and Doosan Enerbility who had been working at a hydroelectric power plant construction site.
PHOTO: AFP
SEOUL – The South Korean government will dispatch an 11-member joint rapid response team to Nepal on Aug 27 to assist search and rescue efforts following devastating floods that have left nine South Koreans unaccounted for.
The team will consist of four Foreign Ministry officials, five firefighters and two police officers, according to authorities. It will be led by Lim Sang-woo, the Foreign Ministry’s ambassador for overseas South Koreans protection and consular affairs.
The team is scheduled to depart Incheon Airport on a commercial flight the afternoon of Aug 27 and travel via Hong Kong to Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital. Once on the ground, it will support efforts to locate and rescue missing South Koreans and confirm the safety of South Korean nationals in affected areas.
Nine South Koreans remain out of contact after massive flooding struck the Himalayan region of north-central Nepal on Aug 26.
The Foreign Ministry confirmed that the missing South Koreans were employees of state-run Korea South-East Power and plant builder Doosan Enerbility who had been working on a hydropower plant project in Nepal’s Rasuwa district.
Another 10 South Koreans affiliated with Doosan Enerbility who had been stranded in the area have been confirmed safe. They had evacuated along with about 200 other workers and were awaiting rescue, according to the ministry.
The disaster struck the mountainous region near Nepal’s border with Tibet, sweeping away buildings and damaging roads and other infrastructure. Reports early on Aug 27 put the death toll from flooding and landslides across the Nepal-Tibet border region at at least 160, with hundreds more missing.
The number of casualties and missing people has continued to change as authorities receive information from remote areas hit by the disaster.
Nepalese authorities have mobilized search and rescue operations, while difficult terrain, damaged roads and bridges have hampered access to some of the worst-hit areas. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
