PETALING JAYA: Every passing hour brings growing anxiety for the families and friends of three Malaysian hikers who remain uncontactable after devastating floods and landslides struck Nepal.
The three are Muhammad Muhaimin Azhad Noor Hadi, 27, Muhammad Adib Haikal Awang Mansor, 27, and Muhammad Zaki Othman, 29.
They were reported to have become uncontactable while hiking in Langtang Valley.
“The last message received was at 10.42am [Malaysian time], and their last detected location was near Bhote Koshi.
“Please pray for their safety,” said Threads user emyliatahar in a post, adding that their status had also been reported to the embassy and Wisma Putra.
In the same post, another user, under the handle myanaimah, said Muhammad Adib was her brother-in-law and appealed for the latest updates.
Threads user husnadayah said Muhammad Zaki and Muhammad Muhaimin were her officemates.
“Hopefully they come back safely. The office is anxious to know about them,” she said.
Netizens also expressed hope for news of the missing Malaysians.
“I do not know them personally, but I am close to tears when thinking about what could have happened. May everything go well for them, and may more people be rescued,” said Threads user nurhafizahzaba.
Meanwhile, Bernama reported that Mohd Firas Shabuddin has chosen to remain calm while waiting for news of his father.
The 24-year-old engineer praised the government’s continued commitment to handling the crisis, saying he was satisfied with the comprehensive efforts made by the ministries involved.
His father, Shabuddin Mun, is among the Malaysians reported missing from a trekking expedition with the Team Loe group, which was travelling in four-wheel-drive vehicles.
Although acknowledging that the situation is causing sadness and tension among the families of those affected, he said he has chosen to leave the rescue efforts to the professionals.
Muhammad Ashraf, whose 63-year-old father Mohd Padzil Daros was also part of the Team Loe trekking expedition, said his family has agreed to undergo DNA sampling as a routine measure given that the victims’ whereabouts and condition remain unknown.
“Yes, this is a normal process and we all agreed to it because we do not know what has happened. So these are processes or steps that we need to take,” he said.
Muhammad Ashraf added that he last heard from his father about an hour before the tragedy, when he received a photograph showing the conditions and scenery at the expedition site.
The Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, said the three Malaysians reported by authorities in Xizang, China, as unaccounted for following the mudslide at Gyirong Port were already included in the 36 Malaysians currently uncontactable in China.
Wisma Putra said the three did not represent additional cases.
“The current figures therefore remain as 36 Malaysians reported as uncontactable in China and 55 in Nepal, while verification and cross-checking between both countries continue,” it said in a statement yesterday.
The Malaysian embassies in Kathmandu and Beijing continue to work with the relevant authorities to ascertain the safety and whereabouts of the Malaysians concerned, including seeking access to areas closer to the affected sites, subject to local approval and safety conditions, Wisma Putra said.
“In Kathmandu, the embassy is also providing consular assistance to family members who have travelled to Nepal, while the ministry’s Operations Room in Putrajaya continues to operate around the clock to coordinate information,” it said.
