Families of 55 Malaysians missing after Nepal’s Aug 26 glacial flash floods seek answers and updates on search efforts as the wait reaches 33 days
PUTRAJAYA: Families of 55 Malaysians still missing following a glacial flash flood disaster in Nepal on Aug 26 are seeking clear information on the search for their loved ones as the wait enters its 33rd day.
S. Punitha, aunt of missing Malaysian Suguna Balan, 33, said the families were not only grappling with uncertainty over the fate of their loved ones but were also increasingly feeling the financial and emotional toll of the ordeal.
She said Suguna was the main breadwinner for her family, making her disappearance a major burden for those left behind, who now need clear information to determine what steps to take next.
“We hope we can get solid information about what happened and what steps we need to take next. It has been 33 days, but we still have no news about the 55 missing people. We have not even been told whether their belongings, such as luggage or personal items, have been found,” she told reporters at Wisma Putra here today.
Punitha was among family members who came to Wisma Putra to follow developments concerning the missing Malaysians.
She said Suguna’s parents, her elder sister and brother-in-law attended the briefing but were still traumatised by the loss of their daughter and struggling to come to terms with what had happened.
Punitha said she was not part of the “KLN-NOK” (next of kin) WhatsApp group, which sometimes made it difficult for other family members to obtain information directly.
Meanwhile, M. Subramaniam, 38, the son-in-law of Krishnan Vadivelu, 74, said the family still hoped that those missing might have survived or were in locations that had yet to be identified.
“Today is the 33rd day. All the families are desperate for answers, and we still do not know whether they are alive or not. We are still holding out hope that there will be news that they are safe or perhaps stranded at some camp,” he said.
He said among the main issues the families wanted clarified was the progress of the search on both sides of the Nepal-China border, as well as updates from the relevant authorities.
He said the families also wanted to know whether the group of Malaysians had managed to cross the Tibet immigration checkpoint before the disaster struck.
He claimed that his father-in-law and 26 others were last known to be inside a building, and that information on the location had been conveyed to Wisma Putra.
“We want to know what happened on the other side. Did they cross the Tibet immigration checkpoint or not? It was said that three people had crossed, so who were those three people and what were their names?” he said.
He said the families who came to Wisma Putra today hoped to learn more about the scope of the search carried out, the outcome of operations and the latest developments from the authorities in Nepal and Beijing.
Today’s closed-door meeting was the second engagement following the Government’s first official engagement with the affected families on Aug 30, five days after the disaster on Aug 26, although not all families were represented at the time.
The briefing involved representatives from the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA), Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART), Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), Department of Chemistry Malaysia, National Registration Department (JPN) and Social Welfare Department (JKM), among others.
The Aug 26 floods and debris flow, triggered by an ice and rock collapse in the upper catchment of Lhende Khola in Tibet, were reported to have killed more than 1,450 people, while thousands more remain unaccounted for.
