KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is continuing efforts to trace 54 citizens who remain uncontactable after the disaster in Rasuwa, Nepal, although the Nepalese government has ended its search-and-rescue operations.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the Malaysian Embassy in Kathmandu was still working with local authorities and trekking checkpoints to obtain any new information.
He said records from the checkpoints, where trekkers were required to register, and the last phone pings received showed that the Malaysians’ last known locations were along the route affected by the disaster.
“Although Nepal has moved into the recovery phase, our embassy is still contacting the trekking posts and local authorities for the latest information.
“We will continue these efforts until there are no more avenues or leads left to pursue,” he said during Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Mohamad was replying to Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah (PN-Langkawi), who asked about the status of Malaysians who could not be contacted after the Aug 26 disaster.
He said 5,285 people were still classified as missing or untraceable, including 636 foreign nationals from 34 countries. Fifty-four of them are Malaysians.
Malaysia deployed its Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) to Nepal from Sept 5 to 11 after securing approval from the Nepalese authorities.
The team brought nine high-capacity drones contributed by Proton, PETRONAS and Yayasan Tzu Chi.
However, Mohamad said the steep and difficult terrain had hampered search efforts.
He said the Malaysian Embassy continued to work with Nepalese authorities even after SMART returned home following its assistance to Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.
In a separate reply, Mohamad urged Malaysians travelling overseas, especially those joining trekking trips or other high-risk activities, to register with Wisma Putra’s e-Konsular system.
“Register before travelling. If something happens, we need to know where you are and how to contact you,” he said.
He added that only slightly more than 6,000 Malaysians registered with the system in 2025, although hundreds of thousands travelled overseas.
Registration allows Wisma Putra and Malaysian missions abroad to contact citizens and provide assistance more quickly during an emergency, he said.
Mohamad also said that Malaysia is awaiting details of a proposed special order by Nepal to speed up the issuance of death certificates for 54 Malaysians who remained missing after the Rasuwa disaster in August.
He said the documents were needed to help the families of those missing to deal with insurance claims, bank accounts and other legal issues.
He said Nepal’s existing law required a lengthy process before a missing person could be issued a death certificate.
“However, the Nepal Prime Minister agreed to introduce a special executive order or ordinance to shorten the process to 45 days for those affected by the disaster.
“The 45-day period has passed. We want to look at the contents of the ordinance and give our input so that it is comprehensive and can be used to obtain death certificates for Malaysians who are missing,” he said.
Mohamad said the government was working with Bank Negara, the Attorney General’s Chambers, the National Registration Department and other agencies to assist the next of kin.
He said the agencies had met families of the missing Malaysians and would help them with banking, insurance and other related matters once the required documents were issued.
“A one-stop centre approach is being taken so that families do not have to go from one agency to another,” he added.
