KUALA LUMPUR — The Malaysian government will deploy the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) to Nepal to assist search and rescue operations following the devastating floods and landslides that have struck the country.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the National Security Council (MKN) and the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA), in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, had been tasked with coordinating with the Nepalese government to ensure the team could be deployed as soon as possible, Bernama reported.
“Pasukan SMART turut diamanahkan untuk mengesan dan membawa pulang rakyat Malaysia yang terjejas, selain membantu Kedutaan Besar Malaysia di Nepal menyelaras bantuan serta memastikan keselamatan dan kebajikan mereka,” he said in a statement today.
SMART will also be tasked with locating and bringing home Malaysians affected by the disaster, while assisting the Malaysian Embassy in Nepal in coordinating aid and safeguarding the welfare and safety of Malaysian nationals.
Anwar said Malaysia would also contribute US$1 million to Nepal to assist those affected by the disaster and support post-disaster recovery efforts.
Yesterday, the Foreign Ministry said 55 Malaysians remained uncontactable following devastating flash floods and landslides in Nepal’s Rasuwa district on Aug 26.
The scale of the disaster has continued to grow, with the death toll from floods and landslides in Nepal and China’s Tibet region rising to 691, while more than 3,000 people remain missing, Anadolu Ajansi reported, citing the latest figures from authorities and local media.
Nepal’s disaster agency reported 675 deaths and 2,498 people missing, while authorities in Tibet, an autonomous region of China, said 16 people had died and 546 remained unaccounted for.
The Kathmandu Post reported that only 20 of the 669 bodies recovered had been identified by relatives as of Saturday evening.
Authorities are now racing to preserve evidence and find space for the dead as hospital mortuaries reach capacity and recovered remains begin to decompose.
In its latest update, the Nepal Tourism Board said 261 foreign nationals had been rescued, while 320 others remained unaccounted for.
The United States also announced more than US$3.6 million in humanitarian assistance for flood-hit Nepal on Saturday, including emergency food aid for up to 10,000 affected households.
Deputy Inspector General Abi Narayan Kafle, the Nepal Police spokesperson, told the Kathmandu Post that the distance over which floodwaters had carried bodies had made identification particularly difficult.
“Of the 669 bodies recovered, 211 were found as mutilated, partial or severed remains, making visual identification extraordinarily difficult,” Kafle said.
“Many remains were buried under thick mud and water for two to three days.” – August 30, 2026