Landslide in Cameron Highlands kills 2 men; 3 victims feared buried alive

KUANTAN - A landslide in Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands early on Jan 26 killed two men, while another three people are feared to have been buried alive.

The five victims are Myanmar nationals aged 25 to 56, the Cameron Highlands District Disaster Management Committee told Malaysian media.

The incident occurred at Batu 54 in Blue Valley, a small town in Cameron Highlands, a popular tourist destination.

The district’s Police Deputy Superintendent Azri Ramli told The Star that the victims were staying in two houses that were hit by the landslide.

The body of a 36-year-old man was found at 5.40am, followed by a second body, discovered about 10m from the houses at a vegetable farm.

Mr Azri said some small landslides and continuous rain were hampering rescue efforts. Search and rescue work was suspended at 7pm due to bad weather conditions and will continue at 7am the next day.

This was the first time a landslide involving deaths had occurred at the site, he said.

Assistant director of operations Ismail Abdul Ghani told Bernama that nine firemen who first arrived at the site had to walk about 3km to get to the scene.

“The soil buried the house to a depth of two metres,” he said at a press conference.

Director of the Pahang Fire and Rescue Department, Haji Wan Mohammad Zaidi Wan Isa, said 132 people from various agencies as well as tracker dogs from the K9 unit have been mobilised to help with the rescue.

The Cameron Highlands Fire and Rescue station was notified of another landslide that occurred in Ulu Sungai Palas on Jan 25, but there were no casualties or property damage, he added.