Malaysia to send Smart team to Nepal as early as tomorrow

Floods and landslides on August 26 have claimed over 1,280 lives and left more than 5,600 people missing across the China-Nepal border, with at least 550 foreign nationals affected, according to EPA Images. Malaysia's disaster assistance and rescue team (SMART) is set to head to Nepal as soon as tomorrow to lend a hand in the search efforts following the disaster.

The foreign ministry confirmed the deployment after receiving approval from the Nepalese government, stating that the 11-member team will be armed with high-capacity drones and specialized equipment to aid operations led by Nepal's authorities. Initially, Nepal had turned down offers from foreign search-and-rescue teams, claiming their own rescuers were up to the task.

However, they later changed their stance due to diplomatic pressure. Malaysia has also pledged to provide search-and-rescue expertise should it be needed by the Chinese authorities. Meanwhile, 55 Malaysians remain unaccounted for in Nepal and China, with ongoing efforts to verify their safety and location. An additional Malaysian team has already arrived in Kathmandu to aid the Malaysian embassy in coordinating with Nepalese authorities on search and identification procedures, including DNA sample collection and analysis.

The floods and landslides along the Nepal-Tibet border have reportedly caused hundreds of deaths and thousands of people to be missing, as per Nepalese and Chinese authorities.