Malaysian Embassy In Nepal Remains Closed

By M.Santhiran KATHMANDU (Nepal), May 5 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Embassy here will remain closed pending decision from the Nepali authorities on the safety of the five-storey building, following the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25. Counsellor/charge d'Affair of the Malaysian Embassy in Kathmandu, Fadli Adilah said the embassy, which is located at Karmachari Sanchaya Kosh Bhawan, Pulchowk, is expected to be closed most likely for a couple more weeks. He said local officers had on Sunday inspected the building and the embassy is awaiting the assesment report. Fadli said since the earthquake, the embassy has been operating from a mobile office at the Tribhuvan International Airport. "The Third Secretary (Admin & Finance) Mohd Farriq Osman and I remained at Kathmandu since the tragedy and have been operating from a mobile office at the Tribhuvan International Airport in assisting stranded Malaysians to return home safely," he told Bernama, here. In the meantime, during a quick tour of the embassy's building, visible damage could be seen, particularly the cracks on the floor and walls of the building. Files and furnitures were scattered everywhere as though all the rooms had been ransacked, while handphones were left unattended on the tables, providing indication of the terrifying experience faced by the five staff who were in the building at the time of the incident. With aftershocks of up to five magnitude here in Kathmandu daily, Fadli said it is not safe to be within the building for more than five minutes. Although notices have been pasted at the ground floor with regard to the closure of the embassy, worried Nepalis, mostly workers still turn up in numbers to check on the status of their passport applications. Fadli advised Malaysians and Nepalis to check the embassy's website and Facebook for all the contact numbers and latest information. --BERNAMA