Malaysia sends SMART rescue team to Nepal and pledges US$1 million aid as 55 Malaysians remain uncontactable.
PETALING JAYA: The government will deploy an 11-member Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) to Nepal as early as tomorrow to assist in the search for 55 Malaysians who remain unaccounted for following floods and landslides in Nepal and China, the Foreign Affairs Ministry (Wisma Putra) said today.
The team, equipped with high-capacity drones and specialised equipment, will support search and rescue operations led by the Nepalese authorities, the ministry said in a statement.
Wisma Putra said it remained in direct contact with the immediate family members of the 55 Malaysians still unaccounted for, while continuing to verify through diplomatic channels with China whether any of the cases in Nepal overlap with reports from the Tibet region.
A separate Foreign Ministry team has already arrived in Kathmandu to assist the Malaysian Embassy in coordinating ongoing search and identification efforts, including the use of DNA samples to identify victims.
In Malaysia, the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) and the Department of Chemistry Malaysia are also making preparations to support the identification process.
The government will also provide US$1 million in humanitarian assistance to Nepal, as announced earlier by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The floods and landslides, which struck Nepal’s Rasuwa district and parts of China’s Tibet region in late August, have killed hundreds of people and left thousands more missing, according to authorities in both countries.
