Searching Every Corner of the Dam Office... What the Search Team's Footage Captured

[Anchor]

We continue with the news of the massive floods in Nepal. Ground searches by the rapid response team to find our nine missing citizens began today (Sept. 1). The search started around the upper dam area where missing persons are presumed to be, and the on-site conditions confirmed from the ground have been revealed for the first time.

Let's first watch the report from reporter Han Sang-woo, who is at the search site as the only reporter from a domestic broadcasting company.

[Reporter]

Ten and a half hours passing through rough unpaved rocky roads and dizzying cliff paths where it is difficult for even a single vehicle to pass.

The rapid response team finally arrives at a point 2 kilometers around the water intake weir dam in the upper river, where the missing South Koreans are presumed to be.

They carefully select a spot with a clear view of the canyon around the dam and deploy drones multiple times to observe.

[It's going down really far, right? We are currently at an altitude of 2,000.]

Drone searches were suspended as the sun went down, but search meetings continued even in pitch-black darkness.

With the power plant in the Rasuwa region destroyed, neither electricity nor gas is available in Dunche village, where the rapid response team is staying.

At 6:00 a.m. local time, all members of the rapid response team pack ropes, helmets, and other gear and head out.

[We have to go now. There's no time. There's no time.]

[Jeon Ki-baek / Head of the Government Joint Rapid Response Team: The drone had a very meaningful effect yesterday, so we are going down once to check that out as well....]

With the help of the Nepalese military, the rapid response team began a close search of the area where our missing citizens are presumed to be.

After helicopters took off and landed multiple times, the boots of the search team members were soon covered in mud.

[(Can you put your feet down on the ground over there?) It's all mud.]

This is footage taken by the search team after descending below the canyon around the office building near the weir dam.

This is the place where one of the nine missing South Koreans is presumed to be.

The tires of a dump truck are more than halfway submerged, and the ground, covered in gravel and soil, is still muddy with plenty of water.

A blue-walled building used by employees of the hydroelectric power plant construction site stands with a pile of earth and sand accumulated opposite it, but the exterior of the building appears largely undamaged.

The Nepalese military is also focusing its efforts on helicopter searches.

Military and civilian helicopters fully mobilized for this search and rescue operation are all gathering at a helipad set up midway up the mountain in Dunche.

Our rapid response team has entered into full-scale overland searches, and the Nepalese military is also actively cooperating in the search for the missing South Koreans.

(Video reporting: Joo Yong-jin, Kim Han-gyeol | Video editing: Park Chun-bae | Footage provided by: Government Joint Rapid Response Team)

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[Anchor]

Now let's connect with correspondent Han Sang-woo, who is out at the search site, to find out more details.

Correspondent Han, the search is still underway, right?

[Reporter]

Yes, right now I am at the military unit in Dunche village, which is the ground search base camp for the rapid response team.

This place is less than 2 kilometers away from the area below the canyon where the missing persons are presumed to be.

From here, our rapid response team is being transported by helicopter to conduct ground searches.

Since helicopters cannot land in the search area, members are descending from helicopters to the ground using ropes to conduct the search.

[Anchor]

Where did today's (Sept. 1) search focus on?

[Reporter]

Yes, the main search target for the rapid response team today was the upper weir dam area.

[(You were looking closely toward the dam yesterday, was there something meaningful confirmed near the dam?) Yes, well, that... I can't tell you about that...]

Since it is located on a cliff at a relatively high altitude and the entire building was not submerged in sediment flows as seen earlier, it appears they are keeping open the possibility that local employees, including one South Korean, may be there.

The office area opposite the powerhouse, a downstream power facility where eight of the missing South Koreans reportedly were at the time of the accident, was not visited today.

They are starting from areas with a high probability of finding missing persons and gradually expanding the search range, but news regarding the missing persons has not yet been heard.

[Anchor]

Tomorrow, South Korea's Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) will also be deployed to the site.

[Reporter]

Yes, as the Nepalese government officially requested support for search and rescue in the affected areas, a 44-member Korea Disaster Relief Team will head to Nepal aboard a military transport plane tonight.

Starting tomorrow, in addition to the 9 members from the National Fire Agency dispatched in the first batch, the Korea Disaster Relief Team is scheduled to join the site here.

Currently, the Nepalese military is also actively cooperating in the search including helicopters, so once personnel and equipment are reinforced, the search is expected to gain even more momentum.

(Video reporting: Joo Yong-jin, Kim Han-gyeol | Video editing: Jung Sung-hoon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.