PETALING JAYA: A group representing the families of missing Malaysians following the Nepal floods has questioned why the foreign ministry and police were not informed that a man among the missing had been found safe nine days later.
R Manivannan, spokesman for the families' solidarity group, said the man, identified only as Low, contacted his family on Sept 3, but was only reported safe on Oct 1 some 37 days after the Aug 26 tragedy.
"If Mr Low had already contacted his family and confirmed that he was safe on Sept 3, why was this information apparently not communicated to the relevant police superiors and Wisma Putra in a timely manner?" he said in a statement.
He said he learnt about Low’s circumstances after meeting him earlier today. He also questioned why DNA samples were collected from Low's family even after he was found.
Manivannan said Low's circumstances differed from those of the 54 Malaysians still missing, who were last reported to be at or near areas directly affected by the floods.
"The 54 families are still waiting for answers about their missing loved ones,” he said.
He urged the authorities to continue recovery and identification efforts, including expediting DNA matching, despite Nepal ending search-and-rescue operations on Sept 30.
He also called on the authorities to clarify Nepal’s reported move to shorten the waiting period for declaring missing persons dead in disaster-related cases from 12 years to 45 days.
Manivannan said the family support group would meet Bank Negara Malaysia tomorrow to discuss the families' financial challenges. The group was awaiting a response to their request for meetings with the Attorney-General's Chambers and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
More than 6,000 people remain missing after a glacier collapse near the Nepal-Tibet border in late August triggered landslides and a flash flood that tore through valleys downstream.