00:01They're the best and brightest in this specific type of search and recovery work.
00:06These are drone pilots and incident management response teams, led by Fire and Rescue NSW
00:12as well, joined by officials from Queensland.
00:15They departed earlier this morning.
00:17Their destination in the long term is Kathmandu.
00:20They will be transiting through Singapore as well on that journey before they do eventually
00:25get there ahead of a 14-day mission.
00:26This is obviously an ongoing disaster that has rocked the world and we've just seen
00:31those shocking incidents and scenes of mass destruction throughout the Nepal-Tibet region
00:37and that's why this crew is going over there to help with this response as, as you rightly
00:41point out off the top, more than 4,000 people at least remain unaccounted for, among them
00:4636 Australians.
00:48Now, Myles, we know that this team departing Sydney today are drone specialists.
00:51What is the specifics of the work that they'll be undertaking over there?
00:56So, they're going to use a mixture of devices, Katharine, both large and smaller drone devices.
01:01The reason for this is because they can actually get into some of the more hard to reach places.
01:06I spoke to the Commissioner of Fire and Rescue NSW, Jeremy Futrell.
01:10He explains, because of this weather event, so much mass and land has moved and because
01:15they're so hard to reach places with infrastructure being totally annihilated, these drones can travel
01:21much faster and further than humans.
01:24They've got a range of remote sensing tools on there which will help them sort of look
01:28through the dirt, so to speak.
01:30I guess it will allow them to understand where the dirt is, where the structures are and help
01:36guide the decision-making for the local emergency management authorities to understand where they
01:41can put their resources.
01:44And, of course, there is also worth noting that these drones can also detect heat signals,
01:49so people who may be trapped underneath either mud or other land debris or even other devices
01:55or infrastructure that has been destroyed, these drones can help with that task and role.
02:00Of course, they will be guided by local Nepali authorities, but these Australians are part of a contingent
02:05of about 40 overall, not just in drone specialist teams, but also in other areas supplied and aided
02:11by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
02:13The Australian Federal Government has also sent off $11 million in emergency aid to Nepal
02:19in this ongoing disaster.
02:21Worth noting that the people that are responding today, this isn't their first rodeo.
02:25They've been to other locations, such as the Turkiye earthquake in 2023, volcanic eruptions in Tonga,
02:32as well as earthquakes and flooding and landslides in both New Zealand and Japan as well.
02:37These are highly experienced and specialist staff, part of a critical mission.
