9 South Koreans still missing one month after massive Nepal-China floods

A massive flood that struck the Himalayan mountain region along the Nepal-China border on Aug. 26 left more than 8,000 people dead or missing, while over 7,000 buildings were damaged in Nepal alone, displacing 32,000 residents.

Friday marked one month since the disaster. The Nepali government is expected to announce the end of search operations this weekend, having assessed that the chances of finding survivors are slim.

At 8:37 a.m. local time on Aug. 26, a glacier and rock mass spanning 2 square kilometers — roughly the size of 280 soccer fields — suddenly collapsed at an elevation of 5,150 meters on Langtang Lirung (7,234 meters above sea level) in Nepal's Bagmati Province in the north-central part of the country.

The glacier and rock debris then plunged 1,400 meters into the Lende River, generating an impact so powerful that the US Geological Survey initially misreported it as a magnitude-4.4 earthquake in Tibet.

The USGS quickly issued a revised report, however, clarifying that no earthquake had occurred and that the collapse had produced a seismic impact equivalent to a magnitude-5.2 quake.

Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology concluded that the collapsed glacier and rock temporarily dammed the Lende River, building up intense water pressure before the so-called natural dam gave way within minutes, triggering the catastrophic flood.

The resulting debris flow — a torrent of water mixed with glacier fragments and rock — traveled at 188 kilometers per hour, reaching the Tibetan border in just seven minutes, according to the investigation.

Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority reported 1,403 deaths and 6,150 missing within the country. Adding the 43 dead and 519 missing in China's Tibet region from related debris flows near the Nepal border, the combined toll for the two countries stands at 1,446 dead and 6,669 missing.

Nine South Koreans remain missing, including six employees of Doosan Enerbility and three from Korea South-East Power (KOEN), who were working on the construction of the Upper Trishuli-1 hydropower plant in Nepal.

The South Korean government dispatched a joint rapid-response team on Aug. 27, one day after the disaster, and followed up on Sept. 2 by deploying a 44-member Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) that included National Fire Agency rescue personnel.

The rescue team, working with the Nepali military, conducted searches by helicopter and drone as well as on foot, but was ultimately unable to locate any of the missing South Koreans.

South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it shared the government's Nepal flood relief efforts at a G7 development ministers' meeting held in New York on Wednesday (local time). Jang Uk-jin, the ministry's coordinator for global multilateral diplomacy, said coordinated international responses that take into account the needs of affected countries are essential in disaster relief.

Meanwhile, KCNA reported Friday that Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a reply to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who had conveyed a message of condolence over the massive flood damage.