KUALA LUMPUR – The search for campers still trapped after Friday’s landslide near Genting Highlands, which has killed 24 so far, was set to continue on Sunday.
Three more bodies – a woman, a girl and a boy – were found on the second day of the search, according to the fire department, leaving at least nine more missing.
“We are already on our second day and, if they are trapped underneath, they might not have oxygen,” Selangor Fire and Rescue Department director Norazam Khamis said on Saturday afternoon.
He added that some of the victims were found trapped between 1.5m and 3m underground, “dragged by the soil movement, and their hands and legs dismembered”.
Datuk Norazam also bemoaned the muddy conditions. The search and rescue operation at Father’s Organic Farm was halted around midnight due to bad weather, with 61 rescued from the Batang Kali site, which the authorities said was not licensed for camping.
“We will call the operator and take follow-up action,” Hulu Selangor district police chief Suffian Abdullah said on Saturday.
“Operations will continue as planned until 4am on Sunday. The search will then resume at 9am,” he told reporters at the landslide site on Saturday.
The Hulu Selangor Municipal Council has also issued 25 temporary closure notices to campsites in the area, some of which have yet to be legalised.
Among the nine missing were an eight-man group from Alor Gajah, Melaka, according to state assemblyman Ngwe Hee Sem.
Those found alive include three Singaporeans, Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday morning.
“The Malaysian government is working swiftly to ensure all affected in the tragedy be given immediate assistance,” the statement added.
Singapore permanent resident Tee Yeow Keng, 37, his 37-year-old Singaporean wife and two children – a son aged seven and a three-year-old daughter – were found unhurt after the deadly landslide missed hitting their tent on the camping ground.
Mr Tee told The Straits Times that the family would now head back to Kuala Lumpur before returning to Singapore a week later. It is not known if any other Singaporeans had been caught in the landslide.
Search and rescue operations resumed around 7.30am on Saturday with the assistance of excavators and seven canines.
In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, several states including Selangor, Pahang and Johor have suspended camping and other recreational activities.
“All forest eco-parks, hiking trails and four-wheel-drive routes in Johor permanent forest reserves will be closed to the public starting Dec 17, until a date that will be announced later,” the state’s forestry department said on its Facebook page.
It added that this is a precautionary measure during the ongoing year-end monsoon.
The annual rainy season that stretches from November to February has regularly caused deadly and damaging floods. The last bout saw 54 killed and RM6 billion (S$1.8 billion) in economic losses nationwide.
Over 700 personnel across various government agencies have been involved in the mission to rescue the 94 registered at the campsite, which was buried under 450,000 cubic metres of earth that fell from a height of 30m onto an area of about 0.4ha.
Landslides around Genting Highlands have occurred regularly over the last three decades, including a 1995 incident that killed 20.
As recently as Dec 11, part of a road was damaged when the earth slipped less than 15km from where the deadly event occurred on Friday morning.
The authorities are investigating the cause of the tragedy and assessing whether it was due to work activities or a natural disaster.
