The families of 55 Malaysians still missing after a glacial flash flood in Nepal are seeking clearer answers as the wait reaches day 33, with the foreign ministry holding a second closed-door briefing for relatives in Putrajaya.
S Punitha, aunt of missing Suguna Balan, 33, said the families are not only grappling with uncertainty over the fate of their loved ones but also feeling the financial and emotional toll of the ordeal, according to FMT. “We hope we can get solid information about what happened and what steps we need to take. It has been 33 days, but we still have no news about the 55 missing people,” she told reporters at Wisma Putra.
Punitha said Suguna was the main breadwinner for her family, which now needs clear information on what to do next. Suguna’s parents, Punitha’s elder sister and brother-in-law, are still traumatised and are struggling to come to terms with what happened.
Another next of kin, M Subramaniam, 38, the son-in-law of V Krishnan, 74, said the family still hoped those missing had survived or were in locations yet to be identified. “Today is the 33rd day. All the families are desperate for answers, and we still do not know whether they are alive or not. We are still holding out hope that there will be news that they are safe or perhaps stranded at some camp,” he said. He added that the families want clarity on the progress of the search on both sides of the Nepal-China border, and whether the group had crossed the Tibet immigration checkpoint before the disaster struck. His father-in-law and 26 others were last known to be inside a building, with that location already conveyed to Wisma Putra.
The Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) has concluded its search and returned home, reaching Malaysia at 2am on 14 September, The Star noted. The families only learnt of the team’s return through news reports, said Malaysia Solidarity: Families in Hope (MASFIH) spokesperson Subramaniam Murugaya. He said DNA matching in Nepal may take up to five months, keeping the families in limbo for that long.
Another MASFIH spokesperson, Dr Manivannan Rethinam, said the families’ concern is not the dedication or professionalism of the SMART personnel but the timing, strategy and areas covered. SMART only entered the affected area on day 14, raising questions over whether the deployment was early enough and whether the right locations had been searched, he said. “Until there is verified information, we should not give up on them,” he said in a statement. “We are grieving without knowing whether we are supposed to be grieving.”
The floods and debris flow on 26 August were triggered by an ice and rock collapse in the upper catchment of Lhende Khola in Tibet. The disaster reportedly killed more than 1,450 people, while thousands more remain unaccounted for.
