Dam at Risk of Being Washed Away in Nepal Landslide; Joint Government Response Team to Investigate After Arrival

[Financial News] The hydropower construction site where nine employees from Korea South-East Power and Doosan Enerbility went missing in a landslide and flash flood in Nepal is believed to have been washed away.
The nine Korean employees, including three from Korea South-East Power and six from Doosan Enerbility, one of whom holds dual citizenship, lost contact for nearly a day after the massive flood that struck Nepal on the 26th while they were building a hydropower plant there.
The extent of the damage to the dam is expected to become clear only after a joint rapid response team and a corporate task force, which departed on the 27th for the accident site north of Kathmandu, Nepal, complete their investigation. Once they arrive in Kathmandu, they will set up a field command post and begin searching for the missing workers and responding to the site.
The missing workers lost contact while working at the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project (UT-1) construction site. The disaster reportedly caused severe damage, with more than 90% of the weir dam above the plant and the base camp where site personnel were stationed washed away.
Local outlet Kantipur News reported that one hydropower project was completely swept away by the flood and that other projects, including the Chilime Hydropower Project, were also damaged. Local residents said, "It was like the dam burst and the water rushed in."
The Upper Trishuli-1 project is a 216-megawatt hydropower development under construction in a mountainous area about 70 kilometers north of Kathmandu.
Doosan Enerbility signed a contract in 2020 worth about 410 billion won for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and major equipment supply, and had been carrying out final work with completion targeted for December. At the time of the accident, the project was about 84% complete.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that, aside from the nine people who lost contact and 10 others waiting for rescue, no additional damage involving South Korean nationals has been reported so far. However, the government is continuing to confirm whether there are any further missing persons.
A ministry official said, "As roughly 20,000 South Koreans visit Nepal each year for tourism, we are continuing to check whether there are any additional casualties."
The joint government response team, led by Lim Sang-woo, head of consular affairs for overseas Koreans protection, and made up of four officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, five firefighters and two police officers, departed Incheon International Airport on a commercial flight on the 27th and headed to Kathmandu via Hong Kong.
Doosan Enerbility Vice Chairman and CEO Chung Yeon-in, who oversees construction, also left urgently for the site to help manage the aftermath.
Doosan Enerbility immediately activated an emergency response headquarters of about 40 people and is devoting all efforts to searching for the missing and containing the situation in close coordination with diplomatic authorities and local officials.
After receiving reports of the flood damage the previous day, Doosan Enerbility set up an emergency response headquarters at its main office, led by Lee Dong-soo, head of the EHS division, who is a vice president. The company plans to send additional specialists from headquarters in stages, depending on the local search situation and access conditions.
Vice Chairman Chung said, "We are currently working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the relevant authorities to mobilize all available resources." 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 remain out of contact can return safely as soon as possible."


[email protected] Kim Kyung-soo Reporter