Korea Southeast Power has dispatched emergency response staff to Nepal after workers building a hydropower plant there were left out of contact or stranded by flooding.
The state-run utility set up an emergency response headquarters on the 26th under Acting President Cho Young-hyuk and moved to round-the-clock operations, according to government and industry officials on the 27th. It also sent staff from its Kathmandu unit to the site immediately after the incident. The company has deployed a total of seven employees in Nepal.
"We are building an emergency cooperation framework with related organizations, including our headquarters and local subsidiary, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Korean Embassy in Nepal and Nepalese military units," a company official said. "We have also urgently deployed a Nepalese military rescue helicopter to the site and are concentrating all our capabilities on searching for and rescuing survivors."
The company sent headquarters staff to Nepal on the same day to set up a rescue camp on the ground and take an active role in rescue operations. It also informed the families of the three employees who are out of contact about the situation and the measures the company is taking, telling them it would make every effort in the rescue.
The Nepalese government has sent a rescue team made up of army and police personnel to the affected area to conduct search and rescue operations.
The Korean Embassy in Nepal notified the Nepalese government immediately after learning of the incident that nine South Koreans, including employees of Doosan Enerbility, were out of contact, requesting a swift and aggressive search and rescue effort. It also dispatched a consular officer to the site.
