KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 16 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has ordered the suspension of all outdoor recreational activities around Batang Kali in Selangor until further notice after an early morning landslide killed more than 11 people and injured others.
He said the authorities will be checking if the campsites — which is where the victims were when the landslide happened — were operating illegally, although the current priority was finding the missing victims, news portal Free Malaysia Today reported.
“We will review this later,” he was quoted saying about the campsites’ registration statuses.
In the same news report, Selangor Infrastructure, Public Amenities, Modernisation of Agriculture, and Agro-based Industry Committee chairman Izham Hashim said a forensic investigation will be carried out to determine the cause of the landslide.
Search and rescue operations have been going on since about 3am today after authorities received a distress call at 2.24am.
There have been conflicting reports about the number of casualties, with Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa earlier telling reporters that 13 were dead as of 11am.
The Fire and Rescue Department said in a Facebook post that 12 were confirmed dead at 11.41am, while the National Disaster Management Agency said 11 were confirmed dead in a Facebook post at 12.49pm.
