[Anchor]
We continue our coverage with the major flooding in Nepal. The government's rapid response team, hastily dispatched to the site, has released footage filmed during its first helicopter search. The video vividly captures the aftermath of a violent debris flow sweeping through the area where South Koreans are believed to have gone missing. No traces of the missing persons have been found yet.
First, reporter Kim Deok-hyeon brings us the details.
[Reporter]
This footage was filmed yesterday (the 29th) by a helicopter mobilized by the government's rapid response team, capturing a canyon in the Rasuwa region of Nepal.
Navigating upstream alongside the grayish mud and turbulent rapids, the video reveals a blue-roofed building, a red bus, objects presumed to be construction vehicles buried under mounds of dirt, and shattered debris scattered across a sheer, rugged cliff.
Nearby, the broken roof of a blue building buried beneath a pile of mud was also spotted.
Keeping in mind the possibility that some of the missing individuals may be isolated on higher ground near the office building in this area, the response team is focusing its search efforts here.
Operations to rescue survivors inside the tunnels of the hydroelectric power plant construction site are also gaining momentum.
Nepalese authorities announced that they have secured an access route to the upper section of the tunnel, where an estimated 100 or more workers are believed to be trapped.
A Nepalese government official explained, "We have begun pumping air through a 6-inch hole," adding, "While we have confirmed that there is no debris inside the tunnel, communication with the people inside has not yet been established."
Nepalese authorities plan to widen this hole to install a manhole, conduct excavation work concurrently, and deploy a rescue team into the main power plant tunnel by tomorrow.
[Swarnim Wagle / Nepalese Minister of Finance: Believing that people may be trapped inside, we are engaged in desperate efforts to find an access route into the tunnel.]
Experts from India and China, who have experience with high-difficulty tunnel rescues in the Himalayan region, have also joined the site.
A South Korean government official explained that because this tunnel is not where the South Koreans worked and is not within walking distance, the missing South Koreans are unlikely to be inside the tunnel.
(Video editing: Kim Jong-tae, Design: Lee Jong-jeong)
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