PETALING JAYA: For some Malaysians, the wait for a simple “I’m safe” message has become agonising as they struggle to contact loved ones caught in the devastating floods in Nepal.
R. Logadarrsiny, who works in marketing, said four of her family members – her father S. Raman, 59, mother M. Neelavany, 54, uncle S. Murukan, 60, and aunt G. Padmahwathi, 58 – were among 17 Malaysians in a group organised by Nepal-based Fishtail Tours & Travels.
“I am very worried as it has been more than 24 hours since we last heard from them,” she said when contacted yesterday.
She said the group arrived in Nepal on Aug 23 and was scheduled to continue its pilgrimage until Sept 5.
The last direct communication with the group was at 8.18am Nepal time on Wednesday (10.33am Malaysian time), when they reportedly were about 2km from the Nepal-Tibet immigration checkpoint.
“After that, all contact with the group was lost. We tried contacting the agency and the Malaysian Embassy but, as of now, we have not received any information,” she said.
She added that she last exchanged WhatsApp messages with her father at about 8.40am Malaysian time on Wednesday.
Aside from that, two Fire and Rescue Department officers are also among the Malaysians who remain unreachable following the flash floods in Rasuwa, Nepal.
Fire and Rescue Department director-general Datuk Seri Nor Hisham Mohammad confirmed this, identifying them as professional climber and special forces team member Mohd Fakhrul Munir Mohd Isa and senior officer Mohd Sani Harul.
Nor Hisham said they were among 10 Malaysians travelling towards Everest Base Camp (EBC), having departed for Nepal on Monday night.
“They were travelling towards EBC. They were not climbing but trekking and travelling by jeep along the Tibetan route,” he said when contacted yesterday.
Takaful agent Syu Islamiah Khafiz said she was also worried after losing contact with a friend travelling in a group of 10 towards Tibet.
“They crossed the border yesterday (Wednesday) and stopped for coffee near the border before continuing their journey towards Tibet,” she said.
She said the group had originally planned to fly directly to China but had to travel to Kathmandu before crossing the border by road.
“There are two routes to Everest Base Camp, one through Nepal and another through Tibet. They flew to Kathmandu and then travelled by car towards Tibet.
“I hope they are all safe and that everything went smoothly for them there. They were all on their way to Everest Base Camp via Tibet when the incident happened,” she said when contacted.
Meanwhile, the uncertainty over a Malaysian who could not be contacted while on an expedition to Annapurna ended after he confirmed that he was safe.
In a Threads post, the man, who uses the account name ‘zlmifirl’, said poor connectivity at the base camp had made it difficult for him to be reached. He also shared a recent photo of himself appearing to be in good health.
His sister, Isfarrina, had on Wednesday appealed to the public to pray for his safety after she was unable to contact him while he was travelling to Annapurna Base Camp.
