PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian embassy in Japan and Wisma Putra are constantly updating the actual number of Malaysians still missing in Japan following the massive earthquake.
“The list is constantly being updated, so the numbers cannot be confirmed,” said a spokesman from Wisma Putra yesterday.
He said the ministry was still receiving calls from family members of those missing and would immediately forward their details and contact information to the Malaysian embassy in Japan.
“As at 4pm yesterday, 858 Malaysians in badly-affected areas have been accounted for,” he said, adding that there were no reports of casualties or injuries among the Malaysians.
He said they could not reveal the exact number of those still missing because the ministry and embassy were still unable to reach some of them directly, although they had been confirmed to be safe by third parties.
“It is difficult to locate them as many cannot be contacted through their mobile phone numbers. We are trying to locate them by sending teams to all the evacuation centres,” he said.
Of the 858 who had been located, he said 298 were students.
“As for those who had been sent to Japan for training by private companies, we have confirmed that those registered with the embassy are safe,” he said, adding that several unregistered trainees had been located at evacuation centres.
He said the Malaysians at evacuation centres reported that they were well taken care of and had a sufficient supply of food.
The Malaysian embassy in Tokyo said Japanese authorities had assured all the embassies in a briefing that the situation in the affected areas was improving, and that most of those in evacuation centres had been allowed to return to their homes.
An embassy official said there were 5,009 registered Malaysians in Japan, but the actual number of Malaysians in the country was still unknown.
“Most Malaysians in Japan are based in major cities like Tokyo which were not badly hit.
“There are no registered Malaysians in the badly-affected coastal areas,” said an embassy official.
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