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South Korea sends relief
South Korea will send a 44-member emergency relief team to Nepal to support search-and-rescue operations after flooding in the Rasuwa region, the country’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
“South Korea will send a 44-member emergency relief team to Nepal”
The team, including officials from the ministry and fire agency, will leave for Nepal on a military transport aircraft on Tuesday and work there for about 10 days, Reuters reported.
Reuters said South Korea had already dispatched a rapid response team to Nepal shortly after last week’s devastating flood to help search for nine South Korean workers missing at a hydropower project.
The BBC described rescue operations as increasingly difficult as heavy rain turned roads to mud, leaving thousands in Nepal still waiting to be rescued.
The BBC’s report also framed the situation as one where unpredictable weather continues to hamper efforts to reach people in need.
Death toll and missing
Nepal’s disaster management department said 903 people have died and 4,247 are currently considered missing, a sharp rise from previous figures, NPR reported from Kathmandu.
NPR said the debris from landslides blocked nine hydropower tunnels in Nepal’s Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts, trapping 933 workers from Nepal, South Korea and China.
MARCA reported that Nepalese authorities raised the death toll to almost a thousand and said there are still about 3,900 people missing, including 583 foreigners, after floods at the border with China.
MARCA also said the National Disaster Reduction and Management Authority reported 3,916 missing, including 639 workers from the nearby hydroelectric plant, and that 11,814 people had been rescued to date.
MARCA added that “So far, food and non-food items have been dispatched” using 37 trucks and 37 Bolero vehicles, plus nine helicopter flights carrying supplies, according to the NDRRMA report.
Foreign help and aid
NPR reported that Bhim Gautam, chief executive officer of the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal, criticized Nepal’s initial hesitance in accepting help, saying Nepal does not have "enough technology, equipment and expertise" to mount successful rescue operations at hydropower projects.
“Nepal does not have "enough technology, equipment and expertise"”
NPR said Gautam added that rescue workers spent “three days only in finding these tunnels,” and that industry leaders had to "pressure the government" to allow rescue workers from other countries.
In a separate thread of relief efforts, Hindustan Times reported that Stray Kids member Lee Know donated 100 million won through World Vision on August 28 and asked for the money to be used for immediate relief.
Hindustan Times quoted Lee Know saying, “I hope my support can offer a little strength to those going through this difficult time,” as translated by The Chosun Daily.
The Korea Times similarly reported that Lee Know delivered the donation on Aug. 28 to World Vision, requesting it go toward saving the lives of children and families affected by the flooding and helping them sustain their livelihoods.