S. Korea's rapid-response team conducts two helicopter sorties over Nepal flood zone, finds no survivors

South Korea's rapid-response team conducted two helicopter sorties over the Nepal flood zone Saturday in search of nine South Korean nationals who have been out of contact for five days, but failed to locate any survivors.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told reporters Sunday that a chartered helicopter secured by the rapid-response team departed for the scene twice — at 11:45 a.m. and 12:38 p.m. Saturday — but no survivors were found.

The first sortie carried four National Fire Agency team members. The second carried four officials — one from the National Fire Agency, two from the Korean National Police Agency and one from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs — who surveyed the area from the air. The team collected video footage of the site for analysis but could not confirm any survivors.

Nepalese authorities had in principle banned all civilian helicopter flights due to the risk of a second flood, but granted a takeoff permit exclusively to the South Korean government's chartered helicopter.

Rapid-Response Team Leader Lim Sang-woo met with a director at Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and senior Nepalese military officials to discuss search options. A senior Nepalese military official said troops would be deployed first to the area where the South Koreans are believed to have taken shelter, and ground search operations were in fact carried out there. None of the missing South Koreans were found, however, the official said.

The government plans to expand its search methods as needed, including the use of drones. "Going forward, if necessary, we will use not only helicopters but also drones and other means to carry out search and rescue operations," the official said.

Regarding media reports that more than 100 people are trapped in a hydroelectric plant tunnel and that South Koreans may be among them, officials said the possibility is considered highly unlikely. Citing company representatives, the official said the tunnel "is not the workplace of our nationals who are out of contact and is a driving distance away," adding that "the likelihood of our nationals having taken shelter toward the tunnel is very low."