'Urged us to save her child first': Malaysia landslide first responder's account of search and rescue efforts - CNA

"As we began to deploy for the search and rescue operation, I saw a few victims coming out of the landslide area on their own, heading towards safety. Several of them used their flashlights to signal for help,” Firdaus said.

He described people wading through ankle-deep mud, slippery conditions making it hard for rescuers to assist victims, and the underlying fear that another landslide could occur in an instant.

"There was a very sad situation when a male victim told us that his wife and child were trapped in their car that was buried by the landslide," Firdaus recounted.

"He shouted to his wife to continue to press the car horn so that we could locate her easier. We made our way in the dark through piles of earth, strewn with half-buried cars and other debris, guided by the sounds of the horn.

"Before long, we managed to find the car in question, and sure enough, his wife and child were there. The wife, even in her weak condition, urged us to save her child first," said Firdaus.

"When we managed to get to the child, I immediately held him in my arms. But it was at that moment that I realised the child had already died. It was clear he was pale, cold and did not have a pulse."

Firdaus said his long years of experience as a first responder kicked in and he and his team remained calm as they extricated the child and the mother from the car.

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2022-12-18 01:49:00Z
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China's cities battle first wave of COVID-19 surge as wider spread looms - CNA

"1 PEAK, 3 WAVES, 3 MONTHS"

In Shanghai, authorities said schools should move most classes online from Monday, and in nearby Hangzhou most school grades were encouraged to finish the winter semester early.

In Guangzhou, those already doing online class as well as pre-schoolers should not prepare for a return to school, said the education bureau.

Speaking at a conference in Beijing on Saturday, chief epidemiologist Wu of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the current outbreak would peak this winter and run in three waves for about three months, according to a state media report of his speech.

The first wave would run from mid-December through mid-January, largely in cities, before a second wave would start from late January to mid-February next year, triggered by the movement of people ahead of the week-long New Year holiday.

China will celebrate Lunar New Year starting on Jan 21. The holiday normally sees hundreds of millions of people travelling home to spend time with family.

A third wave of cases would run from late February to mid-March as people returned to work after the holiday, Wu said.

A US-based research institute said this week that the country could see an explosion of cases and over a million people in China could die of COVID-19 in 2023.

Wu said severe cases in China had declined over the last years, and that vaccination that has already taken place offered a certain degree of protection. He said those in the community that are vulnerable should be protected, while recommending booster vaccines for the general public.

Almost 87 per cent of over 60s have been fully vaccinated, but only 66.4 per cent of people over the age of 80 have completed a full course of vaccination, said official news agency Xinhua.

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2022-12-18 06:22:21Z
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Landslide near Genting: 24 killed so far; some Malaysian states suspend camping - The Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR – The search for campers still trapped after Friday’s landslide near Genting Highlands, which has killed 24 so far, was set to continue on Sunday.

Three more bodies – a woman, a girl and a boy – were found on the second day of the search, according to the fire department, leaving at least nine more missing.

“We are already on our second day and, if they are trapped underneath, they might not have oxygen,” Selangor Fire and Rescue Department director Norazam Khamis said on Saturday afternoon.

He added that some of the victims were found trapped between 1.5m and 3m underground, “dragged by the soil movement, and their hands and legs dismembered”.

Datuk Norazam also bemoaned the muddy conditions. The search and rescue operation at Father’s Organic Farm was halted around midnight due to bad weather, with 61 rescued from the Batang Kali site, which the authorities said was not licensed for camping.

“We will call the operator and take follow-up action,” Hulu Selangor district police chief Suffian Abdullah said on Saturday.

“Operations will continue as planned until 4am on Sunday. The search will then resume at 9am,” he told reporters at the landslide site on Saturday.

The Hulu Selangor Municipal Council has also issued 25 temporary closure notices to campsites in the area, some of which have yet to be legalised.

Among the nine missing were an eight-man group from Alor Gajah, Melaka, according to state assemblyman Ngwe Hee Sem.

Those found alive include three Singaporeans, Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday morning.

“The Malaysian government is working swiftly to ensure all affected in the tragedy be given immediate assistance,” the statement added.

Singapore permanent resident Tee Yeow Keng, 37, his 37-year-old Singaporean wife and two children – a son aged seven and a three-year-old daughter – were found unhurt after the deadly landslide missed hitting their tent on the camping ground.

Mr Tee told The Straits Times that the family would now head back to Kuala Lumpur before returning to Singapore a week later. It is not known if any other Singaporeans had been caught in the landslide. 

Search and rescue operations resumed around 7.30am on Saturday with the assistance of excavators and seven canines. 

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2022-12-17 15:55:32Z
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'We are still in shock': Loved ones identify victims of Malaysia landslide near Genting Highlands - CNA

Mr Tan received news on Friday night that one of the bodies had a positive DNA match with Ms Hong.

"I'm here to identify my niece. We were looking for her everywhere yesterday, but last night they said there could be a possible DNA match with a dead body," Mr Tan told CNA outside Sungai Buloh Hospital's forensic department on Saturday morning. 

"We have all been living in uncertainty. Cannot sleep, cannot eat," he added.

"Now I have seen that it's really her … I feel numb looking at her body, it was hard to recognise. Her head was badly injured," he said, visibly shaken. 

Mr Tan was among several other family members and friends who were at Sungai Buloh Hospital to identify their loved ones. 

Some of them told CNA that they were still in shock from the news.

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2022-12-17 07:57:00Z
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Malaysia landslide: Death toll rises to 23 as search for the missing continues at campsite - CNA

Earlier, Norazam had told reporters that search and rescue operations were suspended overnight due to heavy rains and resumed around 8.30am on Saturday with the assistance of excavators and seven canines,

He said the search and rescue operation would focus on two of three search sectors.

“We are focusing on the two sites because we believe the victims are trapped (there) ... this is based on the fact that the last victim was found at a spot between these two locations.

“The (search and rescue) operation today will involve the use of heavy machinery or excavators to remove soil and large trees which had fallen with the flow of soil,” he said at the disaster site.

However, he said the use of the excavators would depend on the weather and soil conditions during the operation.

"We have to be careful because there is strong water flow from the top and in the soil, this complicates search operations because the ground is soft," he said.

Norazam told reporters the chances of those missing being able to survive the lack of oxygen and weight of the soil are slim.

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2022-12-17 06:50:08Z
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As it happened: Malaysia landslide kills at least 21 as search continues near Genting Highlands - CNA

Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Friday (Dec 16) announced financial aid and support measures for those affected by the fatal landslide near Genting Highlands.

The prime minister said RM10,000 (US$2,260) will be given to the families of those who died while RM1,000 in compassionate aid will be channelled to the survivors. 

The landslide, which struck shortly after 2am on Friday morning, killed at least 21 people while they slept in their tents at an unlicensed campsite at Father's Organic Farm in the town of Batang Kali in the state of Selangor. 

Five children are among the dead. The bodies of a mother and child, believed to be buried alive, were found in an embrace, said the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department. 

Three Singaporeans were among those rescued by the Malaysian authorities and the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur is in touch with them. 

Here are how the events unfolded: 

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2022-12-16 15:58:19Z
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Fatal landslide at campsite near Genting Highlands is 'unprecedented' in Malaysia, says geology expert - CNA

IMPROVING SAFETY

Dr Shahidah gave suggestions on what can be done to make the area safer, including investing more in putting up a strong and rigid structure that can sustain massive movement from the slope.

She added that the government needs to ramp up enforcement against illegal campsites, especially those at the toe of slopes as they may bear the brunt of a landslide.

“Although the campsite itself does not diminish nature directly, the location and also the implementation of the site itself are far from sustainable,” she said.

The campsite operator at Father's Organic Farm did not have a valid licence to host such activities, Malaysia’s Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming told reporters.

Dr Shahidah said: “We need to have strict rules to curb the trend where opportunists try to make money out of nature."

“Also we need to have a sound monitoring system that is able to give us the precursor warning or threshold once (there is) imminent danger,” she added.

While the risk of a landslide can be minimised, its occurrence is not entirely avoidable, she said. She noted that Malaysia is in a region that experiences wet and humid climate all year and that the country’s soil cover consists of thick residual soil.

“Soil is a loose part of rock - once it has been disintegrated, a small disturbance from water or even shaking could induce movement and this is what we experienced now,” she said.

Awareness is also important, Dr Shahidah said, noting that the Meteorological Department of Malaysia has warned residents and tourists of heavy rainfall.

“People need to take extra caution with this warning. Don’t simply go to an area that is prone to landslides,” she said.

People should find out the history of an area before deciding to go there, she added.

“When areas have evidence of ... landslides every year, it means that they are unstable in general,” she said.

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2022-12-16 11:29:00Z
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