Search resumes for woman missing in Cameron disaster

The search resumed today for an Indonesian woman believed to have been swept away during a mud flood in Bertam Valley, Cameron Highlands on Wednesday that has left three people dead.

Up to 300 personnel from the Cameron Highlands Fire and Rescue Service, police, Department of Civil Defence and People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) are involved in the search for Jarwati Abdul Rahim, 24.

"I carried my wife to save her but the strong currents carried me far away from our home," said Jarwati's distraught husband Bakruddin Makmun, 28, recalling the harrowing moments during the flash flood.  

Bakruddin, who managed to hang onto a high cliff, toldBernama yesterday he heard his wife calling out for help as she clung to a lime tree, but was powerless to do anything as he was hurtled 100 metres away from the house.    

His parents-in-law Tuminem Tajam, 39 and Abdul Rahim Sabari, 45, also managed to save themselves.   

Bakruddin, a flower nursery worker, sustained only minor injuries on his neck, face and hands in the incident. The couple's son Azmi Al-Mubaraq, 3, is in Indonesia.   

Two people drowned and one person died of a heart attack during the flash mud flood that swept through the Bertam Valley after additional water was released to ease pressure on the Sultan Abu Bakar Dam in Ringlet at 1am on Wednesday.

Cameron Highlands Fire and Rescue Service chief Yusri Abdullah Sani said the search, which entered its third day today, had been extended further upriver and involved the use of sniffer dogs.

"We have widened the area of search by two kilometres. We hope the weather will be fine today to aid the search operation," he said.

- Bernama