South Korean rescue team moves early to base camp in Nepal
A South Korean disaster relief team moved ahead of schedule to a base camp in Battar, Nepal, to speed up the search for nine missing South Korean workers. They disappeared after massive flooding near the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower plant.
Move to Battar
A 44-member team led by Lee Gyu-ho, the group leader and director-general for development cooperation at South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was dispatched to Nepal. According to The Korea Herald, the team arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday local time.
Initially, rescuers planned to inspect possible base camp sites on Wednesday and head to the search area the following day. However, an advance rapid response team and the Korea International Cooperation Agency, KOICA, confirmed that it was safe, after which officials immediately authorized the move to Battar.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Battar is located about 70 kilometers from the incident site near the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower plant.
Searches in mountainous terrain
The first group of 10 firefighters was flown by helicopter to Ramche, near the missing workers’ camp. Ground units formed by the rapid response team advanced beyond Ramche toward Dunche near the upper dam. They traversed deep ravines and steep elevation changes of up to 50 meters.
Search teams are also expanding the operation onto mountain slopes after reports that some workers may have tried to escape in that direction. The team, which includes representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, KOICA, and South Korea’s National Fire Agency, was dispatched at the request of the Nepalese government after the disaster on August 26 near the border with Tibet. More than 1,000 people were killed in the region, while more than 4,400 others are considered missing. The nine missing South Koreans include six employees of Doosan Enerbility and three employees of Korea South-East Power Co.
