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Kota Kinabalu: An elderly couple was almost buried in a landslide in Kg Kiau, Kota Belud, early Wednesday.Anthony Chong Jin Fatt and his wife, both in their 60s, felt a tremor and immediately left their hillside bungalow in the 6am incident.

Their son said his parents had been living in the house for about 15 years.

According to Chong, his house, instead of collapsing, was "dragged" down the slope. He and his wife have since gone to stay in their son's house in Inanam. Another house near Chong's bungalow and an Isuzu D-Max, also suffered damages.

Kg Kiau JKKK Chairman, Simin Gindai, 41, said he was getting ready to send his daughter to school at SMK Bundu Tuhan at 5.15am when suddenly there was a power cut. "When I looked outside, I saw the electric poles tilting," he said.

He then rushed to the scene, 1.5km from his house, and assisted school children. He said Kg Kiau has about 800 residents and that the landslide affected more than 2,000 residents including from nearby villages.

There is an alternative route, but it is virtually impassable during the wet season, he said.

An employee with Sin Kong Contractor Sdn Bhd, Ramlan Damsek, 44, said when he and the workers arrived at their work site in Kiau, they found that the road was already obstructed with mud and debris.

He said the landslide caused the 70 six-inch pipes that they were commissioned to install to be submerged under five feet of mud and debris.

"The landslide occurred about 500 metres from our work site and it caused electricity and water supplies as well as telephone lines to be cut off," he said.

Meanwhile, Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) sustained RM30,000 losses following the landslide in Kg Kiau Taburi, 60km from here.

The incident caused electricity supply to more than 30 houses to be cut off since 5.44am, Wednesday, according to SESB Managing Director Abd Razak Sallim.

"Early investigations found 10 high voltage electrical poles belonging to SESB damaged and in need of replacement," he said.

A standby team was sent immediately to the scene.

"However work to restore power could not be carried out immediately as the road to the area was cut off and impassable to heavy vehicles such as lorries and mobile gen-sets."

He said SESB was ready to cooperate with the relevant authorities such as the Public Works Department and Fire and Rescue Services in efforts to restore power as soon as possible.