PETALING JAYA: After rescuing hundreds of victims during the Hat Yai floods last year, United Sikhs Malaysia is once again answering the call for help, this time embarking on a rescue and relief mission in flood-hit Nepal.
Its vice-president Mandeep Singh said the team had arrived in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu on Friday night and expected to begin their journey to ground zero today after sourcing essential supplies.
“Today (Sept 5), we will be spending the day in Kathmandu sourcing all the necessary purchases before heading to ground zero,” he said, adding that the team had hired four-wheel-drive vehicles for the mission.
“Road conditions are very, very bad and dangerous. It is a landslide area and if it rains, we may not be able to see the road,” he said in a phone interview.
The disaster has destroyed roads and bridges, cutting off access to some affected areas and making the journey to ground zero particularly challenging.
Mandeep said the team was assessing the available routes as conditions remained unpredictable.
“We have been told that the roads and conditions there are very, very unpredictable,” he said.
The team will also bring aid supplies to affected communities.
Mandeep said mosquito nets and tarpaulins for 300 families had been ordered and delivered to a gurdwara, while other items, including ropes needed for the rescue mission, had been sourced in Kathmandu.
“We will first assess the ground zero condition before deciding to order more items,” he said.
Mandeep said every disaster mission undertaken by United Sikhs had presented its own challenges, but the situation in Nepal was expected to be particularly difficult.
“I’ve been involved in multiple disasters since 2014 with United Sikhs Malaysia. Every disaster has its own challenges,” he said.
He said they had dealt with the worst flood in Kelantan in 2014 and 2015, the 2018 tsunami in Indonesia, Sri Muda floods in 2021, Pahang in 2022 and Hat Yai in 2025.
“I believe every mission has its own challenge but we have never encountered such a situation as in Nepal,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mercy Malaysia president Datuk Dr Ahmad Faizal Mohd Perdaus confirmed that a team of volunteers from the organisation had also reached Kathmandu.
As of Sept 4, 1,294 people had died and 5,053 remained missing, while more than 13,000 people had been rescued.
