At least 16 people have been confirmed killed when a landslide struck a campsite at a Malaysian farm on Friday.
At the time of this report, Officials said that rescuers are still scouring the muddy terrain for nearly 20 people still missing.
Landslides are common in Malaysia after heavy rains, which are regular at the end of the year. However, there were no heavy rains recorded overnight in Batang Kali.
The government had imposed strict rules with regard to hillside development, but landslides have continued to occur after bouts of bad weather. In March, four people were killed 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.
Nor Hisham Mohammad, director of the operations division at the fire and rescue department, told reporters that “as of 1 pm (0500 GMT), 16 victims have died.
According to Nga Kor Ming, the local government development minister, 61 people so far have been found safe after the predawn landslide near the town of Batang Kali, just outside the capital of Kuala Lumpur and near a mountain casino resort.
Veronica Loi, who was camping at the site overnight and survived the landslide, said that her family was sleeping when they heard a sudden, loud sound.
“We saw the tent beside us was totally gone,” she said.
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Hundreds of government personnel including police and rescuers were seen at the gates leading to the campsite compound, while an excavator was seen entering the area from the main road.
The farm where the campsite was situated — “Father’s Organic Farm” — changed its Facebook profile picture to all-black on Friday. Nga said the “campsite is operating without a licence”, and that the operators would be punished if found guilty by the court.
Videos and photos making the rounds on social media showed large fallen trees and crushed vehicles, as well as search and rescue personnel wearing headlamps and digging with shovels, and searching for survivors by a fallen structure.
Story was adapted from The Guardian.
