SEPANG, May 1 ― Two Malaysian sisters who were initially reported missing after an earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal last Saturday arrived home safely last night.

Jane Gan Siew Fern, 27, and June Gan Siew Mei, 26, who could not be traced earlier, took an Airasia X flight D7 193 and arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 at 10.27pm.

Siew Fern said they were initially at the Mount Everest base camp to trek at Lukhla, adding that they managed to get on a domestic flight to Kathmandu.

“This was one harrowing experience, struggling with thousands of people and electricity supply disruption while telecommunication lines were limited.

“We waited since Monday to get tickets from Lukhla to Kathmandu and onwards to Malaysia tonight.

“We are very grateful to a Malaysian Embassy representative in Kathmandu, by the name of Fadli for helping us...without his assistance, we would not be able to return home to Malaysia,” she said when met here tonight.

The sisters went to Nepal on April 21 and reached the base camp before the earthquake occurred.

The earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale hit areas between the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu and Pokhara at 2.56pm (Malaysian time) on Saturday, followed by several aftershocks.

To date, the earthquake, the worst in Nepal in 81 years saw over 5,000 people dead, with another 8,000 injured. ― Bernama