Discharged from hospital, rescue chief heads straight to landslide site

 

Selangor fire and rescue department chief Norazam Khamis was rushed to Selayang Hospital on Dec 19 after suffering a minor stroke brought on by exhaustion and lack of sleep.

PETALING JAYA: Shortly after being discharged from hospital, Selangor fire and rescue department chief Norazam Khamis headed to the Batang Kali landslide site to thank the search and rescue team for their work and motivate them further.

Norazam told reporters that he had suffered a transient ischaemic attack but that the doctors had given him a clean bill of health.

“I came here just to say thank you, I have to head back after this. I’m here to meet my officers, to lift their spirits as they continue the search and rescue operation.

“I also thank everyone for supporting us and giving us the spirit to soldier on,” he said in a video posted on the Selangor fire and rescue department’s Facebook page.

In a statement, the department said Norazam would be on light duty working from home, and that he would monitor the search and rescue effort remotely.

Norazam was rushed to Selayang Hospital on Dec 19 after suffering a minor stroke brought on by exhaustion and lack of sleep.

The department said he had been working tirelessly for three days at the Batang Kali landslide disaster area. He had regularly appeared at media conferences with Hulu Selangor police chief Suffian Abdullah to update the public on the operation’s progress.

The search team is now seeking one more victim, after the total number of victims in the tragedy has been revised from 94 to 92.

The team found four more bodies at the site of the landslide this morning, bringing the death toll to 30. Sixty-one people have been rescued. - FMT