A Nepalese Army personnel carries debris while clearing a blocked road after the earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal (4/28). REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi has said that the whereabouts of 13 Indonesian nationals in Nepal still remain unknown.
"We are constantly communicating with our Indonesian representatives in Nepal to check whether they have managed to trace the 13 Indonesian nationals who are missing (since the earthquake struck on Saturday)," she stated during the ASEAN Summit retreat in Langkawi, Malaysia, Tuesday.
Minister Marsudi expressed her hope that the 13 nationals are safe. The 7.9-magnitude earthquake that occurred on Saturday (April 25) has claimed more than 4 thousand lives so far.
Refusing to believe that they might have met with an ill-fated situation, the minister noted that they are unreachable because the earthquake has damaged all communication networks.
According to the latest data, there are 54 Indonesian nationals in Nepal: 18 residents and 36 tourists.
"Among the 18 residents, 12 have been contacted and they are safe, while the remaining six are still unreachable," she added.
Of the 54 tourists, 47 have been contacted and are safe, while seven remain unreachable.
While most of them were climbers, there were some ordinary tourists as well.
"I have asked our ambassador in Dhaka to take on the responsibility to look for the missing nationals and go to Nepal soon," she revealed.
The Indonesian Government has pledged to send US$1 million as humanity aid for Nepal.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has provided a hotline number. The people whose family members are in Nepal can contact Hernawan Bagaskoro Abid on (021) 3813186 or +6281284794696.
