Doosan Enerbility Vice Chairman Chung Yeon-in Rushes to Nepal to Lead Rescue Effort for 9 Missing Employees

[Financial News] Amid a massive flood in Nepal's Himalayan region that cut off contact with nine Korean workers at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project construction site, Doosan Enerbility Vice Chairman and CEO Chung Yeon-in, who oversees the project, has urgently departed for the site to direct recovery efforts and rescue operations. Doosan Enerbility immediately activated an emergency response headquarters of about 40 people and is making every effort to locate the missing workers and contain the situation in close coordination with diplomatic authorities and the local government.
On the 27th, Chung left for Kathmandu, Nepal, at 1:25 p.m. from Incheon International Airport together with the first response team of eight people. Once he arrives in Kathmandu at 1 a.m. on the 28th, Korea time, he plans to set up an on-site command center and personally lead the search for the missing workers and the response at the site.
Doosan Enerbility set up an emergency response headquarters at its Seoul office on the previous day, appointing Lee Dong-su, head of the EHS division and vice president, as the chief of the task force after receiving reports of flood damage. The company plans to send additional specialists from headquarters in stages, depending on search conditions and access at the site.
The accident was caused by record rainfall and flash floods that swept through the Trishuli River area in Rasuwa, north-central Nepal. The nine people still out of contact include six Korean employees from Doosan Enerbility, one of whom holds dual nationality, and three on-site construction management staff from Korea South-East Power.
The Upper Trishuli-1 project is a 216-megawatt hydropower development under construction in a mountainous area about 70 kilometers north of Kathmandu, the capital. Doosan Enerbility signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract, along with a main equipment supply deal, worth about 410 billion won in 2020, and had been carrying out final-stage work with completion targeted for December.
The site was about 84% complete at the time of the accident. Local checks showed that the weir dam above the plant and the base camp where workers were stationed were more than 90% washed away, causing severe damage. The underground power plant, however, was reportedly not buried.
Even as communication disruptions in the mountainous area limit access to the site, Doosan Enerbility is maintaining a hotline with relevant local agencies and has decided to fully cover transportation, lodging and other arrangements for the families of the missing workers visiting Nepal.
Before departing, Vice Chairman Chung told reporters, "We are mobilizing every available resource in close cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant authorities." He added, "Above all, we will devote all of the company's capabilities to rescue operations and on-site searches so that the employees who have lost contact can return safely as soon as possible."
[email protected] Kim Dong-ho Reporter