One dead, 4 injured in Camerons mudslide disaster
A Nepali farm worker was killed and four others injured after a mudslide which swept through Kampung Bertam and Ringlet New Village in Cameron Highlands last night.
Pahang Fire and Rescue Department deputy director Morni Mamat told Bernama the incident had also forced the evacuation of 150 residents from 37 families to a multi-purpose hall in the town of Ringlet, located about 10 kilometres from Tanah Rata, the main town in the highlands.
"A local man and two Indian nationals were almost buried alive at a car workshop but were rescued in time and sent to a nearby hospital for treatment of their injuries which were serious.
"An Indonesian man was also injured in the incident while a boy is reported missing," he said when contacted by Bernama.
Morni said rescuers were searching for the missing boy.
A Fire and Rescue Department spokesman in Cameron Highlands said heavy rain had caused mudslides and the water level in Sungai Bertam in Ringlet to rise quickly, resulting in a mud flood at around 7pm.
"However, the area where a similar disaster took place last year has not been affected till now," he said.
On October 24 last year, a controlled release of water from the Sultan Abu Bakar Dam following continuous heavy rain resulted in a massive mudflow downstream which claimed three lives and left nearly 100 houses destroyed.
Cameron Highlands police chief DSP Wan Mohd Zahari Wan Busu said the search operation for the boy, aged 13, who is feared to have drowned, had been halted temporarily due to unfavourable weather and would resume today.
He said the identity of the boy had yet to be ascertained.
He identified the Nepali farm worker as Md Yousus Miya, 66, and the Indonesian as Iswandi Nahrowi, 40.
Wan Mohd Zahari said Md Yousus was buried alive in a mudslide in Jalan Ulu Merah in Ringlet at around 7.30pm.
"His body was recovered at 8.30pm," he said.
He said that water from the dam was released in stages since yesterday afternoon and residents had been ordered to move to higher ground for their safety. – Bernama, November 6, 2014.
