{
  "id": 6866893,
  "title": "SMART team to head home from Nepal, says foreign minister",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/12/smart-team-to-head-home-from-nepal-says-foreign-minister",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-12T05:29:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2026/09/12/smart-team-to-head-home-from-nepal-says-foreign-minister"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Malaysia's disaster assistance and rescue team, also known as SMART, is set to return home to Malaysia either today or tomorrow after their mission in Nepal, according to Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan. The team departed for Nepal last Saturday, carrying 12.4 tonnes of search and rescue equipment. Their mission was expected to last 10 days, but they are now returning home. Hasan emphasized that Nepali authorities have no plans to end the search and rescue operations, as approximately 5,000 people remain unaccounted for. The team will transfer all the drones they brought to Nepal to the Nepali rescue teams for their use. The floods and landslides that hit Nepal on August 26th resulted in over 1,400 deaths and thousands of missing persons, according to both Nepali and Chinese authorities. Despite no new developments or traces found of the missing Malaysians, the last known locations of their mobile phones were in areas severely impacted by the disaster. The Malaysian embassy in Kathmandu is in discussions with Nepal's foreign and law ministries to establish the status of the missing Malaysians. This is because, under Nepali law, a death certificate for a missing person can only be issued after three years, compared to seven years in Malaysia. Hasan expressed the hope of establishing a legal mechanism to facilitate prompt assistance for insurance and other claims. Furthermore, Malaysia is seeking Nepal's cooperation to allow DNA samples from the recovered bodies to be sent to Kuala Lumpur for matching against samples from the families of the missing Malaysians. Nepal is currently facing a shortage of facilities and equipment to conduct DNA matching.",
  "summary": "Mohamad Hasan says there has been no development or trace so far of the 55 Malaysians, who are among the 5,000 people still missing.",
  "key_points": [
    "Malaysia's SMART team returning from Nepal mission",
    "12.4 tonnes of rescue equipment transported",
    "Nepali authorities still searching for 5,000 missing"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Malaysia's early withdrawal of its disaster team from Nepal shifts the onus to local authorities, who will use the donated equipment to continue search and rescue operations.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Pasukan SMART akan pulang, serah dron kepada penyelamat Nepal",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/12/pasukan-smart-akan-pulang-serah-dron-kepada-penyelamat-nepal",
        "published": "2026-09-12T04:53:56.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "Nepal floods: SMART team to return today or tomorrow, says Tok Mat",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/12/nepal-floods-smart-team-to-return-today-or-tomorrow-says-tok-mat",
        "published": "2026-09-12T04:58:35.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Malay Mail",
        "title": "Mission done, but not over: Smart team on way home as Nepal search continues",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/12/mission-done-but-not-over-smart-team-on-way-home-as-nepal-search",
        "published": "2026-09-12T07:15:16.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Times of India",
        "title": "Gujarat earthquake, Nepal floods & more: What is it about the date 26?",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/12/gujarat-earthquake-nepal-floods-more-what-is-it-about-the-date-26",
        "published": "2026-09-12T13:40:01.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}