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

[Anchor]

We continue with news on the devastating floods in Nepal. Ground searches by the government's rapid response team to find nine missing South Koreans began today (September 1). The search started near the upstream dam where missing persons are believed to be located, and footage from the ground has 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 journalist from a domestic broadcaster.

[Reporter]

Ten and a half hours passing through rough unpaved stone roads and dizzying cliffside paths where barely a single vehicle can pass.

The rapid response team finally arrives at a spot 2 kilometers away from the water intake weir dam in the upper river, where South Korean nationals are believed to be missing.

They carefully select a vantage point overlooking the gorge around the dam and deploy drones multiple times for observation.

["It's going down really far, right? We're at an altitude of 2,000 meters right now."]

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

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

At 6:00 a.m. local time today, all members of the rapid response team gear up with ropes and helmets to dispatch.

["We have to go now. There is no time. There is no time."]

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

With the help of the Nepalese military, the rapid response team began close-range searches in the area where our missing personnel are presumed to be.

After helicopters took off and landed several times, the search members' shoes were soon covered in mud.

[("Can you even set foot on the ground there?") "It's all mud."]

This is footage filmed directly by the search team after descending below the gorge near the weir dam office building.

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

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

A blue-walled building used by the hydroelectric power plant construction site workers stands with piles of sediment stacked opposite it, though the exterior of the building appears largely undamaged.

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

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

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

(Video filming: 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 at the search site to learn more about the situation.

Correspondent Han, the search is still underway, correct?

[Reporter]

Yes, I am currently at the military unit in Dunche village, which serves as the base camp for the rapid response team's ground search.

This location is less than 2 kilometers away from the area below the gorge where the missing persons are believed to be.

From here, our rapid response team is being airlifted to conduct ground searches.

Since helicopters cannot land directly in the search zone, team members are descending to the ground from helicopters using ropes.

[Anchor]

What areas were focused on during today's search?

[Reporter]

Yes, today (September 1), the main target of the rapid response team's search was the upstream weir dam area.

[("You were looking intently toward the dam yesterday, was there any meaningful finding near the dam?") "Well... that is something I cannot disclose..."]

Because it is located on a relatively high-altitude cliff and the buildings were not entirely submerged by debris flows as seen earlier, it is believed they are keeping open the possibility that local workers, including one South Korean, may be there.

The office area across from the powerhouse—the downstream power facility where eight missing South Koreans reportedly were at the time of the accident—was not accessed down below today.

They are starting from areas with a high probability of finding missing persons and gradually expanding the search radius, but no news regarding the missing persons has been heard yet.

[Anchor]

I understand that South Korea's overseas emergency relief team will also be deployed to the site tomorrow.

[Reporter]

Yes, as the Nepalese government officially requested support for search and rescue operations in the affected areas, a 44-member South Korean overseas emergency relief team is heading to Nepal on a military transport plane tonight.

Starting tomorrow, the overseas emergency relief team will join the site alongside the nine members from the National Fire Agency who were dispatched in the first wave.

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

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