Sabah quake: First body brought to base camp

Rescue personnel bringing down a body to the foothill base camp at Timpohon gate in Kinabalu Park, Kundasang on Friday. -- PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
Rescue personnel bringing down a body to the foothill base camp at Timpohon gate in Kinabalu Park, Kundasang on Friday. -- PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

KUNDASANG (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The first of two bodies of earthquake victims at Mount Kinabalu was brought down to the base camp at about 8.30pm on Friday.

The remains of local mountain guide Robi Sapinggi, 30, was first brought down from Laban Rata where he was found trapped in between rocks.

The second body is believed to be that of an unidentified female teenage foreigner.

The casualties are expected to increase as rescuers continue to reach an area where 10 people were reported to be unconscious at the Via Feratta route on the mountain. Three other guides are also trapped among boulders in the same area.

Officials said they were racing against time to reach the other unconscious people trapped since the 7.17am earthquake on the western side of Mount Kinabalu.

Also trapped in the plateau were 105 people whom rescuers were trying to carve a path through fallen boulders and rocks to bring them down.

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