Annapurna Korean Teacher Missing... Local Police Deploy Additional Personnel

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] Additional specialized local police personnel will be deployed to assist in the search operation for the group of Korean teachers who went missing on the 17th (local time) in Annapurna, Nepal Himalayas.

According to the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Nepal on the 19th, 6 to 10 police specialists with extensive rescue experience will be added to the search at the accident site, which will resume from the morning of the same day.

The previous day, three search teams composed of 13 nearby residents familiar with the local geography and 7 local police officers conducted the search.

They arrived at the accident site around 2:30 PM the previous day but withdrew around 4 PM due to strong winds and snowfall.

A search helicopter was also deployed, but due to the rugged local terrain and poor weather conditions, it was unable to land at the site.

Accordingly, the Nepalese rescue authorities decided to deploy additional specialized police personnel from Chomrong, a large village near the accident site.

The search team, numbering up to 30, will stay together at accommodation about a 30-minute walk from the site and focus all efforts on the rescue operation.

If severe weather does not occur on the 19th, the search will resume at dawn.

The government has also activated an emergency response team composed of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Nepal, and on the afternoon of the 18th, a rapid response team consisting of Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, along with six family members of the missing persons.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to strengthen search support by dispatching a second rapid response team on the 19th.

Meanwhile, this accident occurred during the descent due to worsening weather conditions on the morning of the 17th local time (10:30?11:00 AM local time, 1:45?2:15 PM Korean time) in the Deurali area (altitude 3,230 m) of the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) trekking course. Among the nine teachers who embarked on the trek as part of the Chungnam Office of Education overseas volunteer group, four teachers ahead and two Nepalese guides were caught in an avalanche and went missing.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.