Nepal agrees to accept Malaysia’s SMART team
The National Disaster Management Agency says Nepal's agreement to accept the assistance followed several days of negotiations led by Wisma Putra.
Last week, floods and landslides ravaged Nepal's Rasuwa district, prompting ongoing rescue efforts. The National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) announced Nepal's agreement to welcome Malaysia's Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) for search-and-rescue (SAR) operations. Negotiations leading to this decision were led by Wisma Putra over several days.
The SMART team is set to leave for Nepal on Saturday, with personnel assembling at the Royal Malaysian Air Force mosque at 7 am before heading to Subang airbase. Nadma clarified that mission schedule alterations will be communicated periodically. Initially, Nepal had rejected foreign rescue teams, asserting their own rescuers could manage the operations.
However, diplomatic pressure eventually led to a change of heart. Defence Minister Khaled Nordin clarified that Nepal would accept aid in the form of goods rather than foreign rescue personnel, likely to prevent coordination issues with multiple foreign teams. Malaysia's SMART team is prepared for immediate deployment. The disaster initially left 132 Malaysians unaccounted for, with 77 subsequently located and en route to Kathmandu for their return to Malaysia, while 55 remain missing.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
- Nepal setuju terima pasukan SMART Malaysia freemalaysiatoday.com
- Missing Malaysians: Families hope Smart team can join Nepal SAR nst.com.my
