Malaysia’s rescue team off to Nepal tomorrow
The foreign ministry says the 11-member team will use drones and specialised equipment to assist in Nepal’s search operations.
On Aug 26, catastrophic floods and landslides struck across the China-Nepal border, resulting in over 1,280 deaths and leaving more than 5,600 people unaccounted for. Among the missing are at least 550 foreigners. In response, Malaysia's Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) is set to deploy to Nepal as early as tomorrow in support of search and rescue operations.
The 11-member team will be armed with high-capacity drones and specialized equipment, following approval from the Nepalese government. Initially, Nepal had turned down foreign assistance, claiming its own rescuers were equipped to manage the operations. However, Nepal later relented due to diplomatic pressure. Malaysia has also expressed willingness to provide search-and-rescue expertise to China if required.
Currently, 55 Malaysians remain unaccounted for in Nepal and China, and efforts are underway to verify their safety. An additional Malaysian team has arrived in Kathmandu to assist the Malaysian embassy in coordinating search and identification efforts with Nepalese authorities, including the collection and analysis of DNA samples.
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.
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- Malaysia’s rescue team off to Nepal tomorrow freemalaysiatoday.com
- Missing Malaysians: Smart team deployment brings hope to families nst.com.my
