A landslide in Batang Kali, Selangor province, Malaysia, has killed a total of 19 people, while 14 others remain missing and are being searched for by rescue teams.
Rescuers have managed to find the last bodies at 05.00 (local time) after the accident caused by a landslide in a camp in Malaysia, as reported by the local newspaper ‘The Sun Daily’.
«Search and rescue efforts will continue until all the victims are found,» Selangor Fire and Rescue Department director Datuk Norazam Khamis told the newspaper. Search operations continued Friday in an operation that has already deployed a total of 628 rescue personnel and 16 agencies.
At around 3.00 a.m. (local time), the Malaysian emergency services received a call for a landslide, after which several teams of the Selangor Fire and Rescue Corps arrived and found the first 16 victims.
The accident occurred at a camping site which, according to the authorities, was operating illegally. Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming visited the area and confirmed that the camp was operating without an operating license from the Hulu Selangor District Council and that the culprit could be sentenced to «three years imprisonment».
The minister has reported the closure of all «high risk» settlements across the country for the next seven days to avoid similar accidents, especially now when the country is facing heavy rainy seasons due to the northeast monsoon.