KUALA LUMPUR: A group of mountain guides in Nepal intend to assist in the effort to track down nine Malaysians and a Nepalese tour guide who are still missing after the two four-wheel-drive vehicles they were in were believed to have been swept away by floods in Rasuwa on Aug 26.
Experienced mountain guide Raj Neupane, 41, said he, along with about 20 other individuals, will begin the search by checking the lists of rescued victims at hospitals, military camps, and police stations, in addition to gathering information from the Nepalese authorities.
"We cannot go to Rasuwa because there is no road. The Nepalese government is also carrying out search and rescue operations using helicopters, so we will help by checking hospitals, military camps, and police stations, as well as identifying any victims found.
"At present, we are also unable to cross the Trishuli River. Therefore, we will try to travel as far as we can toward Rasuwa by land,” he said when contacted by Bernama on Tuesday (Sept 8).
Raj said this initiative was taken following floods and landslides that cut off access routes to the group's last known location in Rasuwa and the Tibet border area, thus hindering overland access.
In the incident, nine Malaysians - including Fire and Rescue Department Air Unit (Paskub) officer Mohd Fakhrul Munir Mohd Isa, 44, and Fire and Rescue Operations and Rescue Division Deputy Director Mohd Sani Harul, 59 - were participating in a climbing expedition to the Everest Base Camp (EBC).
Also with them was Nepalese tour guide and expedition organiser Ganesh Neupane, 41.
Raj, who has over 15 years of experience guiding climbers along the Everest Base Camp (EBC) and Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) routes, said Ganesh last contacted his wife at 8.48am on the day of the incident to inform her that the group had just finished breakfast before moving toward the Tibet border area.
"About 10 to 15 minutes after that call, we received news that a massive flood had hit the area and all communication with the group was cut off,” he said.
He added that apart from the mountain guide community, villagers from his hometown will also assist in the search, as he and Ganesh are from the same area.
Raj also mentioned that he personally knew Mohd Fakhrul Munir, affectionately known as Loe, since meeting him in Nepal around 2017.
"Before the incident, Loe contacted me because he wanted to meet at EBC. However, I informed him that I was guiding climbers to ABC during their expedition period, so Loe hoped we could meet another time,” he said.
According to Raj, the tragedy is one of the most devastating disasters he has ever witnessed in his career as a mountain guide, as many residents lost family members while numerous homes were washed away by the floods.
A total of 55 Malaysians are reportedly still unreachable following the disaster, while another 77 who were located safely in Tibet and Nepal have been brought to Kathmandu to undergo processes prior to returning to Malaysia.
According to the Nepal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, at least 1,350 people have died and nearly 5,000 others remain missing due to the floods that struck the country on August 26.- Bernama
