KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 -- More than three years after Malaysian climber Muhammad Hawari Hashim disappeared on Mount Everest, organisers of the Malaysia Everest 2023 (ME 2023) expedition are urging the Nepalese government to officially declare him dead to help his family resolve legal and administrative matters.

According to the New Straits Times, the request was raised with Nepal's Charge d'Affaires in Malaysia, Mudita Bajracharya, to assist Hawari's next of kin with insurance claims, employment-related matters and official documentation.

Hawari, a hearing-impaired climber from Penang, successfully reached the summit of the world's highest mountain on May 19, 2023, at the age of 33. He was reported missing the following day while descendi...