Batang Kali tragedy: SAR operation intensifies on fourth day

 

On the fourth day, the search and rescue (SAR) operation of the landslide incident at Father's Organic Farm, Gohtong Jaya, near Batang Kali, continued to intensify with more assets.

The operation expanded to the nearby river to locate the nine victims who are still missing, as of 8 tonight.

The SAR team today received two more PC 210 LC-10M excavators from 91 Royal Army Engineers Regiment (91 RAJD) of Batu Cantonment Camp, specially brought by the Malaysian Armed Forces at around 2pm this afternoon.

The addition of two heavy machines takes the total number of excavators used in the SAR operation to 10, apart from two ground penetrating radar equipment that had been used since yesterday, to help search for victims of the nearly 300m long and 70m high landslide incident.

Meanwhile, seven sweepers from the Fire and Rescue Department have been moved outside the ground zero search area since the excavation of the landslide earth at the sectored area has reached the original land surface of the campsite.

Selangor Fire Department assistant director of operations Hafisham Mohd Noor said the focus of the team's search was on the murky riverbed area to look for victims there, but surveys at all identified locations still failed to make any findings.

Meanwhile, the development of the SAR operation on the fourth day reported that more than 80 percent of the landslide area at the scene of the incident has been examined by rescuers so far in search of victims.

Selangor Fire Department director Norazam Khamis said that although only about 20 percent of the search area remains, the safety of rescuers also needs to be taken into account.

"The soil here is really soft and when added with rainwater, it causes the soil structure to become damp and weak, it is difficult to move in this kind of condition," he told Bernama.

The SAR operation strategy has been divided into three sectors namely sector A (hill view), sector B (farm view) and sector C (river view) involving the cooperation of five main government agencies as well as several other support agencies, according to Norazam.

On the same development, Hulu Selangor district police chief Supt Suffian Abdullah in a media conference this afternoon said the police would call more individuals to help investigate the landslide incident, including the survivors.

According to him, the process may be done within a week or two since most of the victims who are members of Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) Mun Choong are currently still traumatised.

On Saturday (Dec 17), the police summoned three individuals, namely the operator of the campsite and two of his employees to assist in the investigation regarding the incident.

The landslide disaster that occurred at 2.42am on Dec 16, claimed 24 lives out of a total of 94 victims, while 61 survived and nine are still missing.

- Bernama