S. Korean response team continues search efforts for 9 missing in Nepal floods

KATHMANDU/SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's response team is set to continue search efforts on Saturday for nine of their nationals still missing in the aftermath of devastating flash floods in Nepal. The missing individuals, employees of Doosan Enerbility Co. and Korea South-East Power Co., were working at a construction site in Rasuwa district when the floods hit the north-central Himalayan border area on Wednesday.

Six Doosan employees and three Korea South-East Power workers remain unaccounted for, a day after South Korea's response team attempted but failed to reach the search site via helicopter due to unfavorable weather conditions. Ten other Doosan workers, previously stranded, have been evacuated to safety. Despite Nepali authorities' restrictions on helicopter flights, citing risks of further flooding, the South Korean team has secured six additional choppers to aid in the search.

Lim Sang-woo, head of the rapid response team, pledged to intensify all-out efforts to swiftly locate and rescue the missing Koreans. The response team intends to attempt helicopter deployment again on Saturday. While Nepali military has carried out search operations using coordinates provided by the team, no signs of the missing individuals have been found.

Plans for returning the 10 rescued Koreans are still pending, with the foreign ministry official emphasizing the need to assess their health before air travel. The flood toll has risen to nearly 600 deaths, with around 2,500 others still unaccounted for, and concerns are mounting over potential secondary flooding as barrier lakes, created by debris from a collapsed Himalayan glacier, start to overflow.