The South Korean government and Korean companies have secured a combined six helicopters in Nepal, but putting them to use has proved difficult. Rugged mountain terrain and the risk of a second flood have made it hard to fly private aircraft. That is the backdrop to Nepal's decision to run search and rescue operations primarily through its military and police while allowing only very limited foreign assistance.
"It might be different if there were a helipad in flat terrain, but the flood-hit areas in Nepal are mountainous and there is also a risk of a second flood," a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told reporters at the government complex in Jongno District, Seoul, on the 30th. The remarks mean that even if South Korea flies helicopters in Nepal, landing at the site to conduct search and rescue work is close to impossible. The South Korean Embassy in Nepal, Doosan Enerbility and Korea South-East Power have leased three, two and one helicopter locally, respectively.
The official also said that "in the case of Nepal's rescue personnel, it appears that soldiers with special military training are conducting searches in the steep mountain terrain." That points to clear limits for South Korea's rapid response team, whose members are unfamiliar with the local terrain and lack proper equipment. As a result, the three helicopter searches conducted by the South Korean government and companies on the 28th and 29th centered mainly on visual searches and detailed analysis of video footage taken from the air.
Ten South Korean nationals who had been stranded at a temporary shelter after the flooding began on the 26th were all rescued on the 27th and 28th, but the whereabouts of nine others who remain out of contact are still unknown. Some local media reported that Korean workers were inside a tunnel, but according to Doosan Enerbility and Korea South-East Power, the possibility that the Korean workers took shelter in that tunnel is considered low. It was not their work site, and it is not within walking distance of the office and lodging where they are presumed to have been until just before the flooding.
With the risk of a second flood, the Nepalese government has in principle banned all private helicopter flights. The measure appears intended to prevent confusion in the chain of command as the search is carried out mainly by military and police. The exceptional decision to permit three searches by helicopters leased by South Korea's foreign ministry and companies is seen as reflecting the fact that Koreans working at a local hydroelectric plant construction site are out of contact, as well as the diplomatic ties built up between the two countries.
The government and the companies involved are making an all-out effort on the ground. The government dispatched an 11-member joint rapid response team, including team leader Lim Sang-woo, on the 27th, followed by a second nine-member rapid response team on the 29th. The second team brought drones for the search, but like the helicopters, the drones can be deployed only with approval from the Nepalese government.
Lim has met with Nepal's foreign ministry as well as senior military figures, passing along coordinates for areas where the South Korean nationals are believed to be and requesting an intensive search. A South Korean helicopter conducting a search on the 28th spotted one Nepalese military helicopter at the accident site, and Nepalese officials responded that they had deployed troops for ground operations with the missing Koreans in mind. So far, however, the search has produced no encouraging news.
Beyond the rapid response team, whose purpose is to rescue South Korean nationals, the deployment of an emergency relief corps to assist the Nepalese government and public is awaiting approval from Nepal. Nepalese Foreign Minister Sishir Khanal said at a briefing on the 28th that his government had asked friendly neighboring countries for help in specific areas. Those areas refer to search and rescue inside tunnels, DNA identification and forensic medicine. Tunnel rescue teams from India and China are presumed to have been deployed on that basis. For other countries, however, no decision on assistance has yet been made. Local media reports that the Nepalese government had approved the dispatch of experts and technical personnel from four countries — South Korea, India, China and Australia — were confirmed to be inaccurate.
The Bagmati Province area of Nepal, where the large-scale flooding occurred, is a Himalayan mountain region bordering China. According to Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, at least 734 people had died in Nepal as of the 30th, with 2,498 missing, including 589 foreign nationals. Combined with the 16 deaths and 546 missing, including 261 foreign nationals, tallied by Chinese authorities in the Tibet Autonomous Region, the total from the flooding stands at at least 750 dead and 3,044 missing.
