Departs Thursday

Major floods struck Nepal on Wednesday

Nine workers lose contact at hydropower construction site

Doosan Enerbility President and CEO Jung Yeon-in answers reporters' questions at Incheon International Airport on Thursday. Nine South Koreans connected to Doosan Enerbility and Korea South-East Power lost contact after massive flooding struck a hydropower plant construction site in Nepal. Both companies have set up emergency response headquarters and dispatched rapid-response teams. [Yonhap]
Doosan Enerbility President and CEO Jung Yeon-in answers reporters' questions at Incheon International Airport on Thursday. Nine South Koreans connected to Doosan Enerbility and Korea South-East Power lost contact after massive flooding struck a hydropower plant construction site in Nepal. Both companies have set up emergency response headquarters and dispatched rapid-response teams. [Yonhap]

Doosan Enerbility President and CEO Jung Yeon-in said Thursday the company would make "every possible effort" to rescue workers who have lost contact following devastating floods in Nepal.

Jung made the remarks to reporters at the departure terminal of Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport, adding that the company is "working in close cooperation with the relevant authorities."

Jung is set to lead on-the-ground response operations upon arriving in Nepal. The field response team currently numbers seven to eight people, with additional personnel to be deployed as needed.

After learning of the flood damage on Wednesday, Doosan Enerbility assembled a 40-person emergency response headquarters to assess the situation and coordinate relief efforts. Executive Vice President Lee Dong-su, head of the EHS division, is leading the headquarters.

Meanwhile, a massive flood struck a mountainous Himalayan region in north-central Nepal on Wednesday, cutting off contact with nine South Korean workers at a hydropower plant construction site — six employees of Doosan Enerbility and three from Korea South-East Power (KOEN).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said no additional South Korean casualties had been reported beyond the nine workers who remain out of contact and 10 others awaiting rescue. "As approximately 20,000 South Korean nationals visit Nepal for tourism purposes at any given time, we are continuing to check whether there are any further casualties among our citizens," the ministry said.


yeongdai@heraldcorp.com