KUALA LUMPUR – Jamaliah Tengku Ismail, 67, is holding on to hope that her husband is still alive, despite having had no contact with him since devastating flash floods struck the Nepal-Tibet border area.
Her husband, Muhammad Nasir Abdul Talib, 68, was last traced to Yala Cafe & Coffee Shop in the Rasuagadi area, where his location was detected about an hour before the floods hit.
Nasir had travelled to Nepal with a group of friends and was scheduled to continue his journey towards Tibet.
“He called, but I didn’t pick up. But he sent me a message before he started his travel,” Jamaliah told reporters at a press conference held in Batu Caves today.
She said Nasir had arrived in Nepal early that morning and registered with the Malaysian Embassy before travelling towards the border.
According to Jamaliah, he had initially planned to leave for the border at about 3.30am but later changed his plans.
“He left to go to the border at 3.30 in the morning,” she said, adding that Nepal was a stopover on his journey to Tibet.
Despite the change in plans, Nasir was later traced to Yala Cafe, where he remained shortly before the disaster.
“He was there for an hour before the flash flood hit,” said Dr Manivannan Rethinam, a spokesperson for Malaysia Solidarity: Families in Hope (MASFIH).
Jamaliah said her husband had been eagerly anticipating the trip and was particularly excited to travel with his friends.
“He was very happy. There were a few photos of the group. He was very happy that night.”
“He was excited to go to the border. They wanted to reach the border early… because they were told that the area was very congested,” she added.
Manivannan said the group had been attempting to reach the border before dusk because of restrictions on crossing times.
“Because if you go to the border at the wrong time, it will be open for 2 hours, closed for 2 hours, and you will have to spend the night there. That’s why people always rush to the border,” he explained.
He added that roaming and SIM card data had enabled the group’s movements to be traced until shortly before the flash floods struck.
“Because of the roaming and SIM cards we can pinpoint where he is,” he said.
Despite the uncertainty, Jamaliah said she remained hopeful that Nasir could have survived if he had managed to reach a safe location.
“If he’s still alive, he’ll be able to survive for a few days. More or less, we know where he is,” she said, while acknowledging that time was becoming increasingly critical.
“The longer it takes, the lower the chances of survival,” she added.
Jamaliah said the family was doing its best to remain positive as they awaited further developments in the search.
Nasir is among nine Malaysians reported missing following the flash floods that struck the Rasuagadi area near the Nepal-Tibet border. The Malaysians are not included in Nepal’s official missing persons records.
The nine Malaysians had travelled through a permit-issuing company known as Dream Tibet Travel & Tours. – August 29, 2026