Mercy Malaysia presses ahead

Endless work: Dr Mohammad Iqbal Omar and other members of Mercy Malaysia moving a victim into their field hospital in Sankhu, Nepal. The victim was brought in following the second earthquake on Tuesday.

KUALA LUMPUR: Earthquake or not, the team from Mercy Malaysia is determined to go ahead with its mission to save lives in Nepal.

Its exco official Dr Mohammad Iqbal Omar, who is currently in Nepal, said that although the second major earthquake was scary, the team was still going strong.

“We are in high spirits and all of us are doing fine,” he said when contacted here yesterday.

However, he said minor tremors meant that it was difficult for the team to get proper rest.

“Last night, we were forced to run out to the open space twice as we could feel the ground shaking. It is challenging but we are prepared,” he said, adding that the team usually had essentials packed and ready in case of a quake.

The second major quake on Tuesday, said Dr Mohammad, caused massive damage to buildings surrounding the Mercy Malaysia field hospital.

“Some of the buildings crumbled to the ground but not many people were hurt because most of them had already been evacuated following the first quake,” he said, referring to the 7.8-magnitude earthquake on April 25 which has so far claimed over 8,000 lives.

The second earthquake, which occurred about a fortnight after the first one, measured at a magnitude of 7.3. Latest reports indicated that more than 80 people have been killed so far.

“When it happened, the road was shaking violently and the lamp posts looked like they were swaying in the wind. We are lucky to be alive,” said Dr Mohammad, adding that the team was still going ahead with its plan to reach out to victims in rural areas.

From the time that Mercy Malaysia arrived in Nepal, the team had treated over 1,800 patients and were now streamlining with the local authorities on which areas to cover next.

Malaysian Embassy in Kathmandu charge d’affairs Fadli Adilah said that so far, there had been no news of Malaysians injured in the second quake.

“Electricity is still out in most areas and telecommunication lines could be congested at times,” he said, adding that they hoped to resume operations today.

There were also no plans to bring embassy officials back to Malaysia as there was still much to do, he added.