▲ Members of the government's joint rapid response team, dispatched to search for nine missing South Koreans cut off following massive floods in Nepal, attempt to access the site at the Upper Trishuli (UT)-1 hydroelectric power plant in Rasuwa, Nepal, on local time Sept. 1
South Korea's Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) arrived in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, on the 2nd (local time) to support search and rescue operations at the site of massive flooding in Nepal.
The Air Force's multi-role aerial refueling transport aircraft, the "Cygnus" (KC-330), carrying KDRT members landed at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu at 6:27 a.m. that day.
The KDRT consists of 44 members, including 3 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs led by Relief Team Leader Lee Gyu-ho, Director-General for Development Cooperation, 4 from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and 37 from the National Fire Agency.
They brought various cutting-edge equipment, including 5 rescue dogs, high-resolution surveillance drones, acoustic and visual buried victim detectors, and thermal imaging cameras.
Moving forward, the KDRT plans to cooperate with Nepali authorities to search and rescue victims, including nine South Koreans who went missing after massive floods struck on August 26.
The scheduled period of operation is about 10 days, but it may be extended depending on field conditions.
Previously, the government dispatched a 20-member joint government rapid response team to Nepal in two batches on August 27 and 29. The team has been conducting land searches using helicopters and drones to find the 9 missing South Koreans, but has yet to yield clear results.
While the rapid response team previously had to obtain individual permits from Nepali authorities to operate helicopters and other means, the KDRT, dispatched at the request of the Nepali government, is expected to conduct more proactive searches. Currently, the overland search team formed by the rapid response team has advanced to Dunche in the Rasuwa district of Bagmati Province, which suffered severe damage from the massive floods.
Dunche is located about 2 kilometers away from the weir dam, the upper dam of the Upper Trishuli (UT)-1 hydroelectric power plant where the 9 missing South Koreans worked.
The KDRT is a relief team organized primarily by government ministries and related agencies to assist disaster-stricken countries with disaster relief, rescue operations, and medical aid when large-scale overseas disasters occur.
This marks the 12th deployment of the KDRT, which was first mobilized during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China and also dispatched to Canada in 2023 when major wildfires broke out.
As the damage from the massive floods spiraled out of control, the Nepali government requested an emergency relief team from South Korea to support search and rescue operations in the affected areas.
As of the previous day, a total of 1,019 people have died and 4,462 people remain missing across Nepal and the neighboring Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.