Massive Torrent Strikes Without Warning... 9 South ROK Nationals Unreachable

[Anchor]

The death toll from massive floods and landslides in the border region between Nepal and Tibet, China, has risen to at least 160. Nine South Korean employees at a local hydroelectric power plant construction site are also out of contact.

Here is a report by reporter Kim Young-a.

[Reporter]

A massive wall of water sweeps down the valley at high speed amidst a deafening roar.

The fierce torrent engulfs the hydroelectric plant construction site without giving workers any time to escape.

At around 9:00 a.m. local time yesterday (the 26th), a massive landslide and flash flood occurred in the Himalayan border area where Gyirong County in China's Tibet Autonomous Region meets Rasuwa district in northern Nepal.

Nine South Korean employees belonging to Korea South-East Power Co. (KOEN) and Doosan Enerbility, who were working at the hydroelectric power plant construction site, have lost contact.

Ten other South Koreans who were briefly isolated by the floods have reportedly evacuated to a safe location.

The Nepal Police Headquarters stated that as of 11:00 p.m. local time yesterday, 157 bodies had been recovered in Nepal alone.

Chinese state media earlier reported that three people died in the Tibet region, bringing the combined death toll from both countries to at least 160.

Nepalese authorities reported that 484 people, including 391 foreigners and 93 Nepalese, are missing. With the affected area being wide and communications disruptions making it difficult to assess the scale of the missing, the possibility of the numbers increasing further cannot be ruled out.

Separately, China also stated that 558 people are missing on the Chinese side.

The Foreign Minister of Nepal reported to the Nepalese parliament on preliminary investigation findings that a landslide triggered by an earthquake occurred at 8:37 a.m. local time yesterday, leading to the flash floods.

However, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) stated through further analysis that the earthquake initially cited as the cause of the landslide and floods was actually determined to be shaking generated during the process of a glacier collapse.

A similar flash flood occurred in the affected area in August of last year.

Meltwater from adjacent glaciers in Tibet, driven by global warming, filled lakes and instantly rushed downstream.

At that time, nine people died and infrastructure such as bridges connecting Nepal and China was destroyed.

(Video Editing: Kim Byung-jik)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.