South Korea sent its second contingent of an overseas relief team to Nepal on Friday to support reconstruction and recovery efforts following last month’s devastating floods, the foreign ministry said.

The eight-member contingent of the Korea Disaster Relief Team (KDRT) arrived in Kathmandu aboard a KC-330 military transport aircraft at around 8:44 am (local time), according to the ministry.

The aircraft also carried about four tons of relief supplies worth 180 million won (USD 134,200), including tents, blankets and clothing. The supplies were donated by South Korean companies and other entities, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The team consists of officials from the foreign ministry, the National Fire Agency, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the National Medical Centre.

It will focus on reconstruction and recovery efforts during its seven-day mission, the ministry said.

The first 44-member KDRT contingent, dispatched to Nepal on September 2 for a 10-day search-and-rescue mission, is scheduled to return home on Saturday morning.

Nine South Koreans — six employees of Doosan Enerbility Co. and three of Korea South-East Power Co. — went missing on August 26 after massive floods and landslides hit Rasuwa District near the Nepal-Tibet border while they were working at a hydropower plant construction site.

Nepal has shifted its focus from search and rescue to reconstruction and recovery, while the Seoul government has said it will continue supporting search efforts for the missing Koreans in cooperation with Nepalese authorities and corporate rescue teams.

A government joint rapid response team that was dispatched to Nepal shortly after the floods will be reorganized into a seven-member team to support recovery and other efforts, the ministry said.

The team includes police and forensic officials, who will work with their Nepalese counterparts at a forensic science laboratory to assist in identifying victims, among other duties.

As of Thursday, more than 1,400 people had been killed, and over 5,600 remained missing in Nepal and China’s Tibet Autonomous Region following the disaster, according to foreign media reports.

Riyadh, Sept 10: The Houthi group launched ballistic missile and drone attacks targeting the Saudi cities of Khamis Mushait, Abha and Jazan, the Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognised government in Yemen said.

In a statement on social media platform X, coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki said the Houthis were continuing attacks on the kingdom’s national assets and infrastructure, reflecting what he described as the group’s extremist approach toward escalation and the targeting of civilians in Saudi Arabia, reports Xinhua news agency.

The coalition’s Joint Forces Command would respond to protect the kingdom’s sovereignty, national assets, civilians and civilian objects, he added.

The attacks on Wednesday (local time) came amid a sharp escalation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Houthi group said dozens of “Saudi airstrikes” had struck areas under its control over the past 12 hours.

The cross-border exchanges have unfolded alongside a sharp escalation inside Yemen, where government forces and the Houthis are fighting on several fronts, most intensely in the country’s western areas. The escalation threatens to end several years of relative calm on Yemen’s major frontlines following a UN-brokered truce that took effect in April 2022.

Earlier on Tuesday, the United Nations condemned the cross-border attacks by the Houthis in Yemen against multiple sites in southern Saudi Arabia, which affected civilian and energy infrastructure.

The world body also expressed deep concern over reports of civilian casualties in the attacks, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The United Nations is equally concerned by the intensification of military clashes across multiple front lines within Yemen, particularly reports of possible civilian casualties resulting from the fighting, said the spokesperson.

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg continues engaging directly with the parties with the aim of containing the current escalation and preserving space for dialogue. Continued military escalation risks devastating political, economic and security ramifications for Yemen. The parties should engage constructively with UN-led political efforts, said the spokesperson.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said an escalation in fighting in Yemen is devastating communities already struggling to survive after more than a decade of conflict.

More than 5,600 households have been displaced across Taiz governorate and southern Al Hodeidah governorate since the escalation in fighting on Thursday. At least 11 civilian casualties have been reported in the last week, including two children killed and nine people injured, said the office.

Gandhinagar, Sep 10: The Gujarat government has completed DNA sample collection from relatives of 29 of the 30 people from the state, including Non-Resident Gujaratis (NRGs), who remain missing or uncontactable following the August 26 flash floods in Nepal, particularly along the Nepal-Tibet border and Bhote Koshi River corridor.

The samples are being processed for DNA profiling to help identify bodies and human remains recovered in the disaster. The process for the remaining missing person is also underway.

The Gujarat State Non-Resident Gujaratis’ Foundation (NRGF), under the NRI Division of the General Administration Department, has been coordinating with the families and authorities in India and abroad to facilitate the DNA collection and identification process.

The initiative is being carried out in accordance with guidelines issued by the Central government, under which designated forensic laboratories have been identified for DNA sample collection and profiling of first-degree relatives of missing persons.

DNA profiling at laboratories designated for the purpose is being undertaken free of cost, as directed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Six designated laboratories in Gujarat are facilitating the process, with DNA profiling being undertaken in Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Junagadh and Rajkot.

The National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) in Gandhinagar, is coordinating with the Ministry of External Affairs on DNA profiling of samples collected in India and their linkage with the identification process in Nepal.

A 10-member NFSU forensic team has also been involved in the identification efforts in Nepal. Nepal Police has separately initiated DNA profiling of recovered bodies and human remains following the incident.

NRGF has been personally contacting relatives of each missing person and guiding them about the designated laboratories, available facilities and the procedure for DNA sample collection and profiling.

It has also been coordinating with NRGs and relatives living abroad to ascertain the action taken by local authorities in their respective countries.

In cases involving relatives in New Zealand, the United States, Canada and African countries, NRGF has obtained information about DNA samples collected by authorities in those countries and the status of the identification process.

In several cases, samples of relatives living abroad have already been collected through the respective local authorities.

The DNA profiling reports are being sent directly by the designated laboratories to Nepalese authorities through the official email addresses and contact numbers notified by the them for the identification exercise.

Nepal Police has also requested first-degree relatives of missing people living abroad to undergo DNA profiling at authorised forensic laboratories in their respective countries.

The Gujarat Government, through the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC), district administrations and NRGF, has been coordinating efforts to trace people from the state and Gujaratis living abroad who were reported missing or remain uncontactable after the floods.

A consolidated list of missing and untraceable persons prepared by SEOC and NRGF has also been shared with the Nepal government. So far, 30 people, including NRGs, remain untraceable from the flood-affected areas.

Those reported missing or out of contact include people from Ahmedabad, Anand, Banaskantha, Kheda, Gandhinagar, Surat, Valsad, Rajkot and other parts of Gujarat. Several had travelled to Nepal for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through different travel agencies and routes.

The scale of the disaster has made conventional identification difficult in cases where bodies or human remains have been severely damaged or recovered in parts.

Nepal has therefore begun a large-scale DNA identification exercise, with samples being collected from relatives and compared with DNA obtained from recovered remains.

The DNA-based process is expected to help establish the identities of victims from Gujarat and other parts of India, as well as foreign nationals, and provide families with confirmation about the fate of relatives who remain missing.