GEORGE TOWN: Three people were killed while 12 have gone missing after a landslide occurred in Bukit Kukus in Paya Terubong here on Friday (Oct 19).
Four containers used to house workers at a construction site here were hit by the landslide and 10 workers were reportedly buried under the earth.
According to state exco member Phee Boon Poh, three people were killed in the incident.
The first body was recovered at 3.40pm.
An Indonesian construction worker, who only wished to be known as Endo, 36, said three of his family members from Sulawesi were trapped.
“Three of them, in their 30s, were inside, and I found out that one of them was trapped in a container.
“”I pray for their safety,” he said.
The search-and-rescue operation initiated by the Fire and Rescue Department is still ongoing while survivors have been sent to the hospital.
It has been raining intermittently on the island since Thursday (Oct 18) and the landslide area is extremely muddy.
Photos being shared on social media show parts of the disaster area with mangled cargo containers, possibly used as site offices, storerooms or workers’ quarters seen lying on their sides.
The landslide took place at the construction zone of the paired road from Bandar Baru Ayer Itam to Bukit Jambul, which has been beset with problems.
Last Thursday (Oct 11), 14 concrete beams, 25m-long each, crashed down from an elevated section of the highway.
No injuries were reported.
State Works Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari earlier described the project as “very complicated”.
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/10/19/three-killed-12-missing-in-penang-landslide/
Recent Comments