Korea to dispatch disaster relief team to Nepal to support flood recovery efforts
Summary
Korea is set to dispatch a 44-member disaster relief team to Nepal late Tuesday to support search and rescue efforts after devastating floods. The team includes personnel from the foreign ministry, KOICA, fire authorities and other agencies, and will stay about 10 days. The ministry said the deployment follows a Nepali request for help in Rasuwa district, where nine Koreans remain unaccounted for.
Key Facts
- The Korea Disaster Relief Team includes 44 personnel from the foreign ministry, the Korea International Cooperation Agency, fire authorities and other agencies.
- The team will depart aboard a Korean military transport plane and stay in Nepal for about 10 days.
- The floods and mudslides hit Nepal’s north-central Himalayan region near the Nepal-Tibet border last Wednesday and left more than 800 people dead, with around 3,000 others missing.
- A separate rapid response team sent last week has been conducting ground and aerial searches for the nine missing Koreans, who were working at a hydroelectric power plant construction site in Rasuwa district.
- South Korea earlier announced $1 million in humanitarian assistance to Nepal through international organizations over the disaster.
Members of the Nepal Army head back after collecting bodies that were washed away by flash floods and a mudslide, in Narayani River, Chitwan, Monday. Reuters-Yonhap
A Korean disaster relief team was set to leave for Nepal late Tuesday to support search, rescue and other relief efforts following devastating floods, the foreign ministry said.
The Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT), consisting of 44 personnel from the foreign ministry, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), fire authorities and other agencies, will depart for Nepal aboard a Korean military transport plane later in the day, according to the foreign ministry.
The team will stay in Nepal for about 10 days, conducting search and rescue operations for victims, including the nine Koreans who remain unaccounted for, it added.
The massive floods and mudslides hit Nepal's north-central Himalayan region near the Nepal-Tibet border last Wednesday, killing more than 800 people and leaving around 3,000 others missing, according to foreign media reports.
The KDRT is a statutory emergency response unit deployed to provide disaster relief, search and rescue, medical assistance and other support overseas.
"The deployment comes as the Nepali government requested our assistance in search and rescue operations in areas affected by the worsening floods in the Rasuwa district," the ministry said in a release.
"We will continue to coordinate with the Nepali government and actively explore ways to provide assistance needed on the ground," it added.
The government sent a separate rapid response team to Nepal last week, which has been conducting ground and aerial searches for the nine missing Koreans.
The nine — six employees of Doosan Enerbility and three of Korea South-East Power — were working at a hydroelectric power plant construction site in Rasuwa district when the floods struck the area.
South Korea earlier announced $1 million in humanitarian assistance to Nepal through international organizations over the disaster.
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