I could not believe it, first responder says of number of people affected by Malaysia landslide
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Rescue workers walk with sniffer dogs at the site of a deadly landslide in Batang Kali as they search for survivors.
PHOTO: AFP
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BATANG KALI - One hundred was simply too large a number even for experienced first responder Mohd Firdaus Abd Samad to believe as he received the initial report about the landslide that hit the Father’s Organic Farm campsite in Batang Kali.
That number was what struck the 17-year veteran of the Hulu Selangor district Civil Defence Force (CDF) the hardest as he and his colleagues made their way to the site of the incident
Mr Mohd Firdaus said he was on duty at the Hulu Selangor district operations centre last Friday when they received a call from the Mers-999 (Malaysian Emergency Response System hotline) about the incident at around 2.30am.
“I immediately contacted the fire and rescue station for confirmation, as I could not believe that the number of victims had exceeded 100 people,” he told Bernama on Saturday night.
“After receiving confirmation from the authorities including the police, I along with CDF officer Hilmi Husman and five other personnel rushed to the incident site,” he said.
Rescue efforts were already under way when they arrived.
There were personnel from other security teams spread out across the area, responding to calls for help in the dark.
“As we began to deploy for the SAR operation, I saw a few victims coming out of the landslide area on their own, heading towards safety. Several of them used their flashlights to signal for help,” Mr Mohd Firdaus said.
Everyone was wading through ankle-deep mud, he said.
Slippery conditions made it hard for them to move to assist victims, and there was a fear that another landslide could occur at any time.
Mr Mohd Firdaus recalled a “very sad situation” when a male victim told rescuers that his wife and child were trapped in their car that was buried by the landslide.
“He shouted to his wife to continue to press the car horn so that we could locate her,” he said.
Guided by the sounds of the horn, the rescuers made their way in the dark through piles of earth, strewn with half-buried cars and other debris. Before long, they managed to find the car with the man’s wife and child.
“The wife, even in her weak condition, urged us to save her child first. When we managed to get to the child, I immediately held him in my arms,” he said.
“But it was at that moment that I realised the child had already died. It was clear he was pale, cold and did not have a pulse.”
Rescue workers arrive at the site of a deadly landslide in Batang Kali, Selangor on Dec 17, 2022.
AFP
The CDF is one of five main agencies involved in the SAR operations in the Batang Kali landslide, which is spearheaded by the Fire and Rescue Team.
The operation has now entered its third day.
As at Saturday evening, 24 victims were confirmed dead with nine still missing,
Checks by Bernama as at 2am on Sunday revealed that the situation was calm at the incident site, with only rescue agency vehicles entering and exiting the incident area control post.
The SAR operation stopped at 4am and was set to resume at 9am. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
