Advance Team at Helicopter Base in Battar Focus on 'Possibility of Escape'

[Anchor]

Moving on, let's connect live to Battar in Nepal, where our emergency relief team camp is being set up.

Special Correspondent Han Sang-woo, is there a specific reason why our relief team is using that place as their base?

[Reporter]

Battar, where I am currently stationed, is the southernmost point and the furthest downstream among the disaster-affected areas this time.

Although it is some distance away from the weir dam and power generation facilities where our missing persons are presumed to be, there is a Nepalese military helipad here.

While the northern search area is a long distance away by land, it takes a mere 15 minutes by helicopter.

This allows them to take off directly from here, approach the search area, and sufficiently conduct searches on foot.

It is also easy to board large helicopters and join the village of Dhunche near the search area where our advance team is staying.

Therefore, Lee Gyu-ho, head of the emergency relief team, stated that they are discussing with military authorities so that the 10 members joining Dhunche can also fly directly from Battar to Dhunche using Nepalese military helicopters.

[Anchor]

The weather needs to improve a bit to accelerate the search operations, but it looks like it is raining heavily at the site, which is concerning. Has there been any progress in the overland search?

[Reporter]

Our advance team is known to have already secured a route today (September 2) by land up to a point just 50 meters away from the valley.

From this point onward, the terrain is reportedly dangerous due to its cliff-like structure.

Relief authorities stated that they plan to conduct the search with safety assurance as their top priority.

If they manage to reach the valley section, they are expected to mobilize advanced equipment such as acoustic detectors to conduct a more thorough and prolonged examination.

In particular, they have acquired highly significant information around the weir dam and are carrying out searches.

They have identified a mountain hillside route along the main river channel that could serve as an escape path for Koreans, and are expanding their search into this area.

(Video footage by Joo Yong-jin and Kim Han-gyeol | Video editing by Kim Byung-jik)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.