S. Korea employs helicopters for 2nd day to search for 9 missing nationals following massive flood

Seoul, on August 30, according to Yonhap news agency, the South Korean government intends to continue utilizing helicopters for search operations in Nepal on Sunday, as part of the efforts to locate nine South Koreans who have gone missing following a devastating flash flood in the Himalayan country. Two helicopters are set to be deployed for the mission, one being chartered by the government's rapid response team and the other by Doosan Enerbility.

However, the flight authorization for the helicopters is yet to be granted as the ground conditions and decisions made by Nepali authorities overseeing the rescue operation remain uncertain.

On Saturday, a government-chartered helicopter, carrying four members of the rapid response team, made two trips from Kathmandu towards the flood site. This marked the first instance of a non-Nepali aircraft being cleared to fly that day. The helicopter reportedly did not manage to land and the search was carried out visually instead, with footage from the flight analyzed.

Currently, six employees from Doosan Enerbility Co. and three from Korea South-East Power Co. are still missing since the massive floods hit Nepal's north-central Himalayan border region on Wednesday. They were working at a hydroelectric power plant construction site in the Rasuwa district at the time. Ten other Doosan workers, who had been isolated at a different location, have been moved to safety.

According to a ministry official, the search area for Sunday's operation will be larger than the previous day's.