Buildings near Nepal’s border with Tibet were buried in a deadly flood that left hundreds missing. (AFP/Yonhap)
After Nepal was struck by flash floods, nine Koreans working on a hydropower plant could not be reached and 10 others were left stranded at the site.Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said nine Korean employees of Korea South-East Power and Doosan Enerbility were not answering calls following severe flooding in Nepal’s Rasuwa District Wednesday morning, while 10 other employees of Doosan Enerbility were awaiting rescue at the site.“Ten Korean nationals working for Doosan Enerbility evacuated the area, along with about 200 foreign employees, including Nepalese nationals, and are awaiting rescue. We’ve confirmed their safety, along with that of the consul dispatched to the site,” Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said during an emergency meeting Wednesday night.The ministry initially said that eight Koreans couldn’t be reached but confirmed later that evening that an additional person was unaccounted for.“I plan to speak on the phone with the Nepalese foreign minister tomorrow and ask for cooperation,” Cho said.The government plans to send a rapid response team to Nepal on Thursday to support search and rescue operations for the missing Koreans.The team will be led by Lim Sang-woo, the foreign ministry’s representative for consular affairs and the protection of overseas Koreans, and staffed by officials from the Foreign Ministry, the National Fire Agency and the National Police Agency.Doosan Enerbility and other companies involved also plan to dispatch emergency response teams to the area.After being briefed on the situation, President Lee Jae Myung issued an urgent order to “prioritize the lives and safety of Korean citizens and mobilize all available resources to find and rescue the missing,” according to Blue House spokesperson Kang Yu-jung.Lee also instructed the government to “work closely with the Nepalese government and local authorities, provide support to the families of the missing, and take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of other Koreans in the area and prevent further harm.”Upon learning of the disaster, the Korean Embassy in the country notified the Nepalese government that some Korean nationals were not responding to calls and requested rapid search and rescue efforts while dispatching a consul to the scene.Seoul also set up a task force under Cho to ensure the safety of Koreans in Nepal.The flash floods were initially presumed to have been caused by landslides triggered by an earthquake in Bagmati Province in north-central Nepal, a mountainous area in the Himalayas. Later analysis indicated that a glacial collapse was likely the cause. As of Thursday morning, the death toll had reached 160, with over 400 travelers, including 341 foreign nationals, missing, according to the Nepal Tourism Board and other sources.By Park Min-hee, senior staff writer; Yu Young-jae, staff reporter Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
