Tanjung Bungah search and rescue operation ceases

GEORGE TOWN (Oct 24): The search and rescue operation for buried victims of a landslide at an affordable housing project site at Lengkok Lembah Permai, Tanjong Bungah here has been called off at 12.05pm after flushing with K9 sniffer dogs of Fire and Rescue Department found no more victims at the incident area.

Penang Fire and Rescue Department director Saadon Moktar said the department also verified with the construction site contractor which said only 11 victims were buried and all bodies had been accounted for.

"The three-day search and rescue operation was considered successful. The department will provide a complete report in three days to the Cabinet while a report on the cause of the incident will be carried out by other government agencies,” he told reporters at the incident location here yesterday.  

He said 380 officers and personnel from various agencies including the Fire and Rescue Department, police, Civil Defence Force and the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) were involved in the three-day operation.

"The Fire and Rescue Department also obtained assistance from all parties especially the developer in the search for buried victims,” he said.

All 11 victims reported buried in the landslide incident had been found, with the bodies of the last two workers, Bangladeshi Muhammad Monirul Islam and Yuan Kouk Wern, 27, a local, found this morning.

The remains of Muhammad Monirul were found at 7.03am while Yuan's body was discovered 10 minutes later.

Nine other bodies recovered from the disaster site were three workers from Myanmar, Yunus Nazir Huson, Muhammad Elyas Mustak and Rahmatullah Mohd Sidiq; three Bangladeshis Hossen Mia, Nur Alam and Rahaman Abdur; two Indonesians Hosrin Sharif and Erwin Salis as well as a Pakistani national Raza Ali. 

In the 8.57am incident on Saturday, all 11 victims working at the base of the building under construction were buried when the hill slope slipped and fell on them.   

It was learned the work was for the construction of a 50-storey building belonging to a private company.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Oct 24, 2017.

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