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Search for RI nationals continues despite team departure

The search for the three remaining Indonesian nationals in Nepal continues, with the Indonesian evacuation team handing over responsibility to Nepali authorities prior to its departure

Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, May 22, 2015

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Search for RI nationals continues despite team departure

T

he search for the three remaining Indonesian nationals in Nepal continues, with the Indonesian evacuation team handing over responsibility to Nepali authorities prior to its departure.

Indonesian nationals Jeroen Hehuwat, Alma Parahita and Kadek Andana were declared missing following the disastrous 7.4-magnitude earthquake that shook Nepal on April 25 and are the only victims yet to be contacted apart from 10 other Indonesians who chose to remain in Nepal, according to a senior
diplomat.

Indonesian Ambassador to Bangladesh and Nepal Iwan Wiranataatmadja expressed his hope that the three climbers could still be found, noting he would not speculate on the matter.

'€œI'€™m in no position to say whether or not there is still hope for them,'€ he told reporters on the sidelines of a press briefing in Central Jakarta on Thursday. '€œI can'€™t say for sure where they are. We can only conduct a reconstruction of the events in light of testimonies from the people that they came across [during the trek to Mount Everest].'€

The whereabouts of the three Taruna Hiking Club (THC) members were last reported at Everest Guest House in the Langtang region, a small tourist spot near Mt. Everest that was one of the worst ravaged by the earthquake.

Ambassador Iwan said that the area, which used to house around 20 accommodations, was practically buried under sheets of snow and rocks due to the landslide that ensued.

Iwan said that the remaining evacuation team in Nepal, consisting of a Foreign Ministry official and two disaster victim identification (DVI) officials from the National Police, had returned to Indonesia, having handed over responsibility to continue the search for the three Indonesians to Nepali authorities.

According to the ambassador, the Nepali officials were well-informed of the trio'€™s profile. '€œThe team has done their job and is back in the country [Thursday], because of the Nepali government'€™s request that all foreign [search and rescue] SAR teams leave the country [to simplify disaster mitigation],'€ he said.

Furthermore, Iwan said that the Indonesian evacuation team had left behind all equipment and aid except for an operating table and medical evacuation equipment.

Since arriving in Nepal on April 30, the team has conducted two aerial SAR expeditions in the Langtang area to no avail. Iwan said the Nepali military would continue search efforts, pending better weather conditions on the field.

The evacuation team left Nepal on Wednesday after having their duties extended thrice by the local government, Iwan said.

The handover duties were represented by ministry official Hernawan Bagaskoro Abid, who left the search duties to the Institute of Medicine Tribhuvan University'€™s (IMTU) forensics department head, Pramoud Kumar Shrestha.

'€œThe Foreign Ministry will continue to monitor the search and evacuation of the three Indonesians through the Nepali authorities who we'€™ve been collaborating with,'€ Hernawan said in a statement.

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