Body of 4th victim of Penang landslide found; 3 others remain missing

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GEORGE TOWN - The body of the fourth victim of a landslide in Penang was recovered on Saturday morning (Oct 20), while three more people are believed to remain buried in rubble.

He was identified as 36-year-old Bahtiar, an Indonesian, and was found by sniffer dogs not far from where the body of the third victim was recovered earlier on Saturday, Bernama news agency cited the director of the Penang Fire and Rescue Department (JPBM), Saadon Moktar, as saying.

The landslide had occurred in the Jalan Bukit Kukus road construction site at 1.56 pm on Friday after nearly 24 hours of heavy rains, and all four victims found so far were foreign workers.

"The (4th) body was found at 11.30 am and we brought it out at 11.55 am. It was recovered at about 20 to 30 metres from where the third body was found," Saadon told reporters at the accident site according to Bernama.

"Our search was focused on the area near where the last victim was found. We believe that they were close by to each other."

He added that so far, three more people were believed to be still buried in the landslide.

"A friend of one of the victims informed us that there is another Bangladesh national who is believed to be trapped and this brings the number of people who are still trapped to three, comprising one Indonesian and two Bangladesh nationals," Saadon was quoted as saying..

He said for the safety of the rescue team, the search-and-rescue operations may be temporarily stopped if rain falls.

The bodies of two workers, Indonesian Samsul Asman, 19, and Bangladesh national Attrul, 35, were recovered on Friday, while that of a Myanmar woman Khin Aye Khaing, 33, was found at 1.30 am on Saturday.

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