Families of missing Malaysians to get briefing tomorrow

A briefing will be held tomorrow for families of Malaysians still missing following severe flash floods and landslides in Nepal.

The foreign ministry, national security council and other agencies will provide an update on efforts to locate those reported missing, said foreign minister Mohamad Hasan.

He said Wisma Putra was ready to arrange for the families to travel to Nepal if necessary. However, access to the disaster area remained difficult due to damaged infrastructure, including bridges that have been severed.

“Many people who were initially reported missing have since been successfully contacted. The Chinese authorities have also told us that several people there have been reached, but their nationality has not yet been confirmed,” he told reporters.

He said additional staff had been deployed to the Malaysian embassy in Kathmandu to help handle the needs of Malaysians and their families who remain unaccounted for.

The foreign ministry has confirmed that 55 Malaysians in Nepal and 36 Malaysians in China remain reported as uncontactable as at 8pm tonight. The ministry said it would continue to work closely with the Chinese and Nepalese authorities, while cross-checking figures between both countries to rule out duplicate reporting.

The ministry also stated that personal details of victims would not be released publicly without the consent of the immediate next of kin. “In accordance with established procedures, information on individual cases is provided directly to verified immediate next of kin,” the ministry said.

On Friday, Nepal’s tourism authorities released the names of 51 Malaysians among 537 foreigners from more than 30 countries who were reported missing. The Malaysians had been handled by four tour agencies.