Special equipment under an eight-meter layer of mud: how rescuers searched for the missing in Nepal

The government Nepal rejected the first two offers Malaysia to provide 50 and 25 rescuers to eliminate the consequences of mudslides, as it had enough of its own forces and attracted teams from China and South Korea. However, after diplomatic negotiations, the Nepalese side agreed to the arrival of 11 specialists from the Malaysian group SMART, who had specialized equipment for searching under the rubble.

Rescuers were flown by helicopter from the tactical base in Trishuli to the area between the settlements of Timure and Syabrubesi, which was inaccessible by land due to destroyed infrastructure. Due to cloud cover and heavy rain, helicopters dropped specialists on hillsides, from where they walked for over an hour to the work site, under the threat of repeated landslides.

For three days, the team, using nine high-powered drones and sensitive acoustic sensors, scoured the disaster area, checking for the last known whereabouts of the missing Malaysians. No survivors were found, after which the group handed over footage to families and some equipment to the Nepalese military for further searches.