KUALA LUMPUR: Twenty-four people, many of them children, were buried alive when a landslide hit an orphanage in Kampung Gahal, Hulu Langat, near here yesterday.
As of 8pm, about five hours later, villagers and rescuers had pulled out eight injured children and an adult and recovered the bodies of five children of Rumah Anak-Anak Yatim dan Anak-Anak Hidayah Madrasah Al-Taqwa, police said.
The child survivors were aged between 11 and 17 and the 22-year-old adult is believed to be a worker at the orphanage.
The dead children were aged between 11 and 14.
The survivors were rushed to Kajang Hospital, Selangor police chief Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah told a news conference.
He said the orphanage, located close to a hill, had 49 occupants, five of them caretakers.
All the residents of the orphanage are male.
When the landslide struck at 2.30pm, all the residents were in a camp erected near the orphanage for an event scheduled at 5pm.
The debris from the landslide covered the whole camp erected on the hillside.
A surau was also hit by the landslide.
“We understand that two landslides occurred within seconds of each other. All of them in the camp were trapped,” Tun Hisan said at the scene.
He said the rescuers comprised personnel from the Fire & Rescue Department, police and Civil Defence Department.
Rescue operations were ongoing even in heavy rain, said Putrajaya Fire & Rescue assistant commissioner Morni Mamat. — Bernama