KUALA LUMPUR: Stranded Malaysians in Nepal were briefed on evacuation plans ahead of their flight home today.

The briefing was conducted at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport by officers from the Malaysian Embassy in Nepal.

Yesterday, The Counsellor/Chargé d’Affaires of the Malaysian Embassy in Kathmandu, Fadli Adilah had said that 85 passengers, including 13 participants of the 7 Continents Exploration Club’s (KE7B) Annapurna high-altitude expedition programme, are expected to depart for home via a Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) C-130 aircraft at 7am today.

He said some of the passengers will be staying in guesthouses while others at the airport.

On Saturday, Nepal was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake which left almost 4,000 dead with nearly 8,000 injured. The latest numbers was confirmed by a Nepal’s Home Ministry official today.

The quake is considered the worst in the country’s history following a 6.8 magnitude quake that hit eastern Nepal in August 1988, killing 721 people, and a magnitude 8.1 quake which killed 10,700 people in Nepal and India in 1934.-nst