KUALA LUMPUR - THREE people were killed and seven were feared buried in a landslide that hit a housing estate in suburban Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, forcing thousands to evacuate, state media said.

Police said that a woman, her child and an unidentified man had died in the landslide which hit in the early hours of the morning, burying 14 houses at the upmarket Bukit Antarabangsa estate, the official Bernama news agency reported.

The landslide cut off access to streets, trapping thousands of residents, some of whom reported they had no electricity and insufficient food, it said.

Bernama quoted police as saying that some 3,000-5,000 people living in the vicinity of the landslide had been ordered to evacuate their homes, including bungalows and apartment blocks.

'We urge the people living nearby to move out because it is reported that earth movement continues to take place,' police chief Musa Hassan reportedly said.

He said that the Selangor state government had prepared temporary shelters for the displaced residents.

A search and rescue operation has been mounted involving personnel from the military, fire departments and disaster response teams, but recovery and evacuation efforts were hampered by an afternoon downpour.

The landslide occurred after days of heavy rains in the area, which is prone to slippages.

Four people were killed and 43 homes destroyed in a nearby suburb in June 2006.

And in 1993 a landslide triggered by heavy rains caused the nearby 12-storey Highland Towers condominium to collapse, killing 48 people - mostly children and maids who were left at home while parents were at work. -- AFP