South Korean rescue officials dispatched to Nepal boarded two chartered helicopters Saturday to search for nine nationals missing from the catastrophic flash floods, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
The helicopters, each carrying four from the government rapid response team, took off from Kathmandu and headed to the flood site where the nine missing may be located, the ministry said.
Six employees of Doosan Enerbility Co. and three of Korea South-East Power Co. remain missing for a fourth day following the massive floods in Nepal's north-central Himalayan border area. They were working at a hydroelectric power plant construction site in the Rasuwa district when the floods struck the region Wednesday.
Ten other Doosan workers who had been isolated at a different location have been moved to safety.
The government response team had been struggling to reach the flood sites as Nepali authorities are restricting foreign access to the area for search and rescue operations, citing unpredictable weather and risks of further flooding.
Separate search teams from Korea South-East Power and Doosan obtained clearance from local authorities earlier and were preparing to carry out their own searches Saturday, according to company officials. Doosan said it was ready to deploy drones to the sites if needed.
But due to unfavorable weather conditions in the morning, the helicopters could not take off. The plan once again fell through in the afternoon, as Nepal's authorities blocked foreign-flagged helicopters from operating.
The teams plan to attempt to conduct searches Sunday. Doosan Group Chairman Park Jeong-won also arrived in Kathmandu late Saturday to support search operations.
An additional team of nine government officials from Seoul, including firefighters, departed for Kathmandu on Saturday to join the 11-member response team in Nepal.
Korea South-East Power conducted a brief helicopter search Friday after receiving late clearance from local authorities just before sunset, but it failed to locate the missing people.
"We believe they could be at the base camp, as safety protocols direct evacuees to higher ground. If we get to fly the helicopter, we will thoroughly search that area," the official said.
The government and corporate rescue teams have rented six choppers to search for the missing as the floods have destroyed roads and bridges.
Seoul has offered to deploy a Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT), a statutory emergency response unit, and is currently in talks with Nepali authorities on the matter, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
"We are fully preparing to dispatch a KDRT at any time once the Nepali side accepts our proposal," a ministry official said.
Through the KDRT, Seoul can send personnel and supplies for search and rescue, medical and other relief missions, but only at the request of the host country.
Nepal's Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said Friday the country needs special technical help to restore transportation and communication lines but not in search and rescue operations, according to a Reuters report.
"We understand that Nepal is prioritizing military and police-led search and rescue operations due to the region's unique terrain and weather conditions, and will request foreign assistance when the need arises," the Seoul official said.
Speaking to reporters in Kathmandu late Friday, Lim Sang-woo, head of the government rapid response team, vowed to make all-out efforts to ensure swift search and rescue operations for the missing Koreans.
"We made search attempts for the nine missing individuals with the Nepali military mobilizing their assets, but unfortunately, we need to keep searching," Lim said.
The Nepali military has conducted a search operation in and around the possible locations using the coordinates provided by the response team, but there were no signs of the missing people, according to Seoul officials.
The government and corporate search teams are considering expanding the search along the Trishuli River to cover the downstream area, preparing for the possibility that the missing people were swept away.
Return travel plans for the 10 rescued Koreans have yet to be decided, a foreign ministry official said.
"Having been through extreme circumstances, what they need most right now is rest," the official said. "We also need to see if their health conditions are stable enough for them to travel by air."
In Seoul, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun had a meeting with family members of the missing people, the ministry said.
The death toll from the disastrous floods has reached more than 600, with around 3,000 others unaccounted for, according to foreign media reports.
Reports said fears of secondary flooding are rising as barrier lakes, created by debris from the collapsed Himalayan glacier that triggered the initial floods, have started to overflow.
