REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, LANGKAWI -- Indonesia will send a medical team, which will include orthopedic surgeons, to Nepal, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry is now coordinating with other related institutions, including the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), to send relief aid to Nepal, Marsudi stated here on Tuesday.
"We will send a search and rescue team and a medical team, as well as relief aid such as food," she affirmed.
The Indonesian government has offered US$1 million in aid for Nepal, the minister added.
The residence of Indonesia's honorary consul in Nepal was destroyed by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake that devastated the country on Saturday, April 25.
"Therefore, we will send a team to the field by assigning the ambassador in Dhaka to cover Nepal as well. He will be supported by four people from the Foreign Affairs Ministry and two from the Police's DVI (Disaster Victim Identification) team," she pointed out.
Moreover, the whereabouts of 13 Indonesian nationals in Nepal are still not known, she pointed out.
When the powerful earthquake hit Nepal, 54 Indonesians were in the South Asian country. Of the 54 Indonesians, 18 live in Nepal, while 36 were visitors.
"Of the 18 Indonesian nationals who live there, 12 have been contacted and are safe, while six could not be contacted," she revealed.
Of the 36 visitors, seven could not be contacted, while the rest are safe.
"Most of them are mountain climbers, but there are also tourists," she remarked.
The death toll from the devastating 7.9-magnitude earthquake in Nepal totaled 4,300 on Tuesday, according to disaster management officials.
More than 8,500 people were injured, the emergency operation center was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Officials said it was impossible to tell how many bodies remained buried, which means that the death toll could rise to well above the 4,349 announced by the country's National Emergency Operation Center on Tuesday morning.
The earthquake, which also triggered a massive avalanche on Mount Everest that killed at least 18 people, was the deadliest to hit Nepal since a 1934 temblor took the lives of more than 10,000 people, Reuters reported.
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