Ten reported dead in Malaysian landslide

Malaysia Environment and Natural Resources Minister said he is praying for victims after ten people were reported to have died in a landslide at a camping site in Malaysia’s Selangor state. More the 50 others are reported missing.

The minister, Nik Nazmi bin Nik Ahmad, said…

“I pray that the missing victims can be found safely soon.”

The landslide took place around 2am this morning just outside Genting Highlands, north of the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia’s National Disaster Management Agency reported it had rescued 53 people but dozens remain missing. It is understood that more than 90 people were camped at a farm site on the side of a road.

Teh Lynn Xuan told Malay-language daily Berita Haria that she was camping with 40 others when the landslide struck.

The 22 year old said one of her brothers died while another is in the hospital.

“I heard a loud sound like thunder, but it was the rocks falling. We felt the tents becoming unstable and soil was falling around us.

“Luckily, I was able to leave the tent and go to someplace safer. My mother and I managed to crawl out and save ourselves.”

Nik Nazmi bin Nik Ahmad reported that rescue teams had been working to find those missing since early this morning, adding that he will visit the disaster site today.

The landslide struck a farm stay area in Batang Kali town, about 50 kilometres north of Kuala Lumpur.

The landslide began up a slope about 30 metres higher than the campsite and affected about an acre of the surrounding land.

It’s unclear what triggered the landslide. Local media said there had been no heavy rains in the lead-up to it.

Landslides are commonplace in Malaysia after heavy rains, which are regular at the end of the year, reported Bangkok Post. However, there were no heavy rains recorded overnight in Batang Kali.

The government imposed strict rules on hillside development but landslides have continued to occur after bouts of bad weather. In March, four people died after a massive landslide triggered by heavy rains buried their homes in a Kuala Lumpur suburb.

In one of the deadliest such incidents, a huge mudslide in 1993 brought on by heavy rain caused a 12-storey residential building outside the capital to collapse, killing 48 people.