KUALA LUMPUR: As long as there is no evidence confirming her husband’s fate, Hani Othman continues to hold on to hope that Fire and Rescue Department Air Special Operations Unit (PASKUB) officer Mohd Fakhrul Munir Mohd Isa, 44, who was reported missing with eight other Malaysians following floods in Rasuwa, Nepal, will be found.
"As long as there is no evidence confirming anything about my husband, there is still hope,” said Hani, who is currently in Nepal to follow developments in the search and rescue operation for her husband, affectionately known as Loe, and his eight team members.
When contacted by Bernama today, Hani said the expedition to Everest Base Camp (EBC), which the group of friends had dubbed their "dads’ trip”, had been planned for a long time and was eagerly anticipated by all of them.
Mohd Fakhrul Munir and his eight friends were reported missing after the four-wheel drive vehicle they were travelling in during the EBC expedition was believed to have been affected by floods while passing through a valley in Rasuwa on Aug 26.
Also in the group was Mohd Sani Harul, the deputy director of operations at the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia (JBPM), and seven other Malaysians and a Nepalese national
Hani, who has been in Nepal for 11 days, said the latest information she received from Wisma Putra was that the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) moved to the Trishuli area yesterday, one of the main disaster locations and where rescue teams had been deployed.
Meanwhile, Hani said she had returned to Kathmandu after spending a night in Betrawati to take part in a humanitarian aid distribution mission involving contributions from Malaysians and local non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
She said the aid was only allowed to be distributed at a victims’ evacuation centre in Betrawati as areas closer to the disaster site remained closed for safety reasons and to avoid disrupting the search and rescue operation.
Hani said the remaining contributions from Malaysians would be channelled to welfare homes in Malaysia as aid in Nepal was now sufficient following the arrival of various NGOs in the affected areas.
Describing the situation in Betrawati, she said the impact of the floods there was devastating, with hundreds of residents still reported missing, while only nine victims had been found alive so far.
In the floods that occurred on Aug 26, a total of 55 Malaysians were reported uncontactable, while another 77 Malaysians who were confirmed safe in Tibet and Nepal were brought to Kathmandu to undergo documentation procedures before returning to Malaysia. - Bernama
