[Anchor]
A Chinese survivor rescued ten days later from the tunnel of a Nepal power plant where nine missing South Korean nationals worked has stated that there is one more person nearby whose fate is unknown. The South Korean Overseas Emergency Relief Team active on-site, in consultation with the Nepalese military, has decided to resume search and rescue operations starting this morning, September 6.
Reporter Son Gijun has the details.
[Reporter]
Rescue workers literally crawl into a mud-filled tunnel, then wade forward through water rising to about waist height.
This footage shows members of the South Korean Overseas Emergency Relief Team entering the tunnel prior to rescuing a Chinese survivor at a point 225 meters inside the tunnel at the Upper Trishuli-1 hydroelectric power plant construction site.
[Lim Pal-sun / Senior Inspector, Central 119 Rescue Headquarters: The tunnel was very deep, with about 250 to 300 meters of it open and cleared. A massive amount of debris had piled up, so we had to pass through a very narrow space to penetrate all the way inside to the end of the tunnel.]
Yesterday, the relief team deployed 10 personnel to rescue one Chinese survivor and recover one body.
In particular, the relief team obtained a statement from the rescued Chinese survivor indicating that there is one more person nearby whose life or death remains unknown.
Because this is where the nine missing South Koreans worked, the relief team has designated it as a key search area.
Additionally, during the body recovery process, two more bodies were discovered, but due to issues such as the exhaustion of the relief team members, they secured the location of only one body and returned to the base camp.
Accordingly, the relief team plans to resume internal tunnel search and rescue operations starting this morning in consultation with the Nepalese military.
The area around the powerhouse containing the power plant turbines and the Yellow Bridge is also scheduled to be searched using drones.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun, who arrived in Nepal's capital Kathmandu last night, is scheduled to hold talks with the Nepalese foreign minister today.
During the meeting, Minister Cho is expected to request support to ensure that search operations to find the nine missing South Koreans proceed smoothly.
(Camera footage provided by: Seol Chi-hwan, Kang Si-woo | Video edited by: Kim Jun-hee | Video courtesy of: Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
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