The confluence of the Trishuli and Tadi rivers near Devighat in Nepal's Nuwakot district, seen Saturday (local time), after flooding caused widespread damage to the area. [AP]
The confluence of the Trishuli and Tadi rivers near Devighat in Nepal's Nuwakot district, seen Saturday (local time), after flooding caused widespread damage to the area. [AP]

Doosan Enerbility and Korea South-East Power have launched search operations for employees missing after severe flooding in Nepal, but bad weather and permit delays are hampering their efforts.

According to local response teams, Doosan Enerbility has applied for permission to fly a helicopter Sunday, following a similar application the previous day.

The company had planned to use a helicopter to search for missing workers on Saturday as well, but was grounded in the morning by bad weather and in the afternoon by a Nepali government ban on foreign helicopter operations. The risk of secondary flooding — with river levels rising rapidly — has added another obstacle to the search.

Korea South-East Power has also applied for clearance to operate a chartered helicopter and is awaiting approval. The company received authorization from Nepal's military on Friday and conducted one search flight over the flood-affected area, also dropping relief supplies. Since Friday, however, no company-chartered helicopters have been able to take off. On Saturday, only helicopters operated by the government's rapid-response team flew two search sorties.

The companies have drawn up plans to search by helicopter and drone both the area where their employees are believed to have gone missing and higher ground where they may have taken refuge, but as of Sunday they were still waiting for Nepali authorities to grant approval.

With roads near the site washed out by the floods, aerial search is currently the only viable option, leaving company officials frustrated. "We cannot say a sufficient search has been carried out," a company official said. "We need to search further in the coordinates where our employees are believed to have gone missing."

As search operations remain stalled, the companies are reinforcing their on-the-ground response teams. Doosan Group Chairman Park Jung-won and Vice Chairman Park Ji-won — who also serves as chairman and chief executive of Doosan Enerbility — flew to Kathmandu on Saturday to receive situation briefings and work on a response plan.

Speaking to reporters at Kathmandu airport on Saturday, Vice Chairman Park said, "I felt it was better to come and see the rescue situation firsthand. We will work closely with the government response team to ensure rescue operations proceed as quickly as possible."

Korea South-East Power, which had earlier dispatched six headquarters staff to Nepal, sent a second response team of nine people Sunday, including acting President Cho Young-hyuk. Cho is expected to take direct command of search and rescue operations on the ground.

"We will throw everything into the search and rescue effort to return our employees to their families and colleagues as soon as possible," Cho said. "We will spare no human or material resources the company has."

Nine South Koreans remain missing from a hydropower plant site after the Nepal floods — six employees of Doosan Enerbility and three from Korea South-East Power — with no word of any rescue so far. Ten South Korean workers who had been stranded at the site were rescued and transferred to Kathmandu, where they are resting.


klee@heraldcorp.com