BATANG KALI: The seach and rescue (SAR) operation to look for 12 victims who are still missing after yesterday’s landslide disaster at the Father’s Organic Farm campsite in Gohtong Raya here resumed at 8am.
Selangor fire and rescue department director Norazam Khamis said the SAR operation would now focus on two of the three search areas involving sector B (Fairview camp) and sector C (area near the Riverside camp).
“We are focusing on the two sites because we believe the victims are trapped in Farmview and Riverside. This is based on the fact that the body of the last victim was found at a spot between these two locations.
“The SAR operation today will involve the use of heavy machinery or excavators to remove soil and large trees which had fallen due to the landslide,” he told reporters at the site today.
He, however, said the use of four excavators would depend on the weather and soil conditions during today’s operation.
Yesterday, the SAR focused on the three other sectors, including the Hillview campsite.
Norazam said today’s operation would involve more than 150 rescuers from various agencies, including the police, Civil Defence Force (APM), and Special Malaysian Search and Rescue Team (SMART).
He said the main challenge yesterday and today concerned land stability at the disaster area because of underground water, the 45-degree gradient of the slope, and the thickness of the landslide debris, which reached a depth of between 6.1m and 9.1m.
“There is no soil movement at the moment, but there is still underground water flow which caused the soil to soften. We fear that there could be movements and the ground may slip further and threaten the safety of rescuers,” he said.
The 2.42am landslide saw a section of a ravine measuring almost 300m long and 70m high crashing onto the campsite.
A total of 94 people were trapped by the landslide and as of midnight, 12 people were reported to be unaccounted for, while 21 have been confirmed dead.
