▲ Nepali rescue workers escorting a rescued Chinese national out of the Upper Trishuli (UT)-1 hydroelectric power plant tunnel on the 5th (local time).
A Chinese survivor who was rescued 10 days after being trapped in the area where nine South Roreans went missing due to massive floods that struck Nepal stated that there was one more person nearby.
The Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) announced that it secured a statement from the survivor—rescued on the 5th (local time) inside the tunnel at the Upper Trishuli (UT)-1 hydroelectric power plant construction site in the Rasuwa district of Bagmati Province, north-central Nepal—stating that another person was in the vicinity.
The survivor, a Chinese man, was rescued at around 1:15 p.m. that day by a joint rescue team consisting of the Nepalese military and the KDRT at a point 225 meters inside the UT-1 hydroelectric power plant tunnel.
The Chinese national told the KDRT that there was one more person near where he had been, though he did not know whether that person was alive or dead.
Based on the Chinese national's statement, the KDRT plans to conduct additional search and rescue operations inside the UT-1 hydroelectric power plant tunnel on the morning of the 6th in consultation with the Nepalese military.
A video of the Chinese national's rescue released by the KDRT that day shows South Korean rescue workers crawling through a mud-filled tunnel interior over a muddy field.
In another video, rescue workers waded through river water reaching up to their waists while searching the dark interior of the tunnel.
Earlier that day, the KDRT entered the UT-1 hydroelectric power plant tunnel and first discovered one body at around 10:32 a.m.
After reinforcing the existing seven rescue workers with three more, they re-entered the tunnel that afternoon to rescue the Chinese survivor and recover the body found in the morning.
During the process of recovering this body, two additional bodies were discovered, but the rescue team temporarily returned to the base camp due to fatigue.
An official from the KDRT said, "The team members returned after confirming the locations of the bodies," adding, "Tomorrow, we plan to continue searching the tunnel (near the UT-1 hydroelectric power plant weir dam), as well as the area near the powerhouse (where the power plant turbines are located) and the Yellow Bridge."
Massive floods that occurred in the upper reaches of the Himalayan mountainous region on the 26th of last month have left 1,375 people dead and 5,531 missing so far in Nepal and the bordering Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
Among the missing are nine South Koreans who were constructing the UT-1 hydroelectric power plant.
(Photo provided by the Nepalese military, AP·Yonhap News)
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