Korea sends 2nd disaster relief team to Nepal for flood recovery efforts
Summary
Korea sent its second disaster relief team to Nepal on Friday to support reconstruction and recovery after last month’s devastating floods. The eight-member team arrived in Kathmandu aboard a KC-330 military transport aircraft with about 4 tons of relief supplies worth 180 million won. The team will work for seven days, while the first 44-member contingent is due to return home Saturday morning.
Key Facts
- The relief supplies included tents, blankets and clothing donated by Korean companies and other entities.
- The team includes officials from the foreign ministry, the National Fire Agency, KOICA and the National Medical Center.
- Nine Koreans, including six Doosan Enerbility employees and three Korea South-East Power employees, went missing on Aug. 26 after floods and landslides hit Rasuwa District near the Nepal-Tibet border.
- A government joint rapid response team will be reorganized into a seven-member team to support recovery and identify victims with Nepalese counterparts at a forensic science laboratory.
Members of Korea's second overseas emergency relief team depart for Nepal aboard a KC-330 military transport aircraft carrying relief supplies, Friday. Courtesy of Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Korea sent its second contingent of an overseas relief team to Nepal on Friday to support reconstruction and recovery efforts following last month's devastating floods, the foreign ministry said.
The eight-member contingent of the Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) arrived in Kathmandu aboard a KC-330 military transport aircraft at around 8:44 a.m. (local time), according to the ministry.
The aircraft also carried about 4 tons of relief supplies worth 180 million won ($134,200), including tents, blankets and clothing. The supplies were donated by Korean companies and other entities.
The team consists of officials from the foreign ministry, the National Fire Agency, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the National Medical Center.
It will focus on reconstruction and recovery efforts during its seven-day mission, the ministry said.
The first 44-member KDRT contingent, dispatched to Nepal on Sept. 2 for a 10-day search-and-rescue mission, is scheduled to return home on Saturday morning.
A Korean Air Force KC-330 Cygnus multirole tanker aircraft carrying the second contingent of the Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) arrives at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Sept. 11. Yonhap
Nine Koreans — six employees of Doosan Enerbility Co. and three of Korea South-East Power Co. — went missing on Aug. 26 after massive floods and landslides hit Rasuwa District near the Nepal-Tibet border while they were working at a hydropower plant construction site.
Nepal has shifted its focus from search and rescue to reconstruction and recovery, while the Seoul government has said it will continue supporting search efforts for the missing Koreans in cooperation with Nepalese authorities and corporate rescue teams.
A government joint rapid response team that was dispatched to Nepal shortly after the floods will be reorganized into a seven-member team to support recovery and other efforts, the ministry said.
Nepalese Army personnel carry construction materials on a newly opened iron bridge following deadly flash floods and a mudslide, in Devighat, Nuwakot district, Nepal, Sept. 10. Reuters-Yonhap
The team includes police and forensic officials, who will work with their Nepalese counterparts at a forensic science laboratory to assist in identifying victims, among other duties.
As of Thursday, more than 1,400 people had been killed and over 5,600 remained missing in Nepal and China's Tibet Autonomous Region following the disaster, according to foreign media reports.
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