Batang Kali landslide: Four bodies found today were rolled up in a tent, say police

BATANG KALI, Dec 22 — The bodies of four more victims of the landslide tragedy at the Father’s Organic Farm campsite, Gohtong Jaya, were found rolled up in a tent at 11.04 am today.

Hulu Selangor district police chief Supt Suffian Abdullah said the four bodies were of a man, a woman, a boy and a girl.

“The bodies were found in the same tent in Sector C at a depth of seven metres, fully dressed and already starting to decompose.

“As for now, their identities have yet to be ascertained. So we cannot confirm whether they are family members or not,” he told a press conference at the scene.

All the bodies were taken to the Sungai Buloh Hospital for post-mortem.

In the meantime, Suffian said the police had received three missing person reports involving victims who have not been found and bodies yet to be identified.

He said the names include that of the 26th victim, an adult male found yesterday morning, adding that the body had been claimed by the next of kin.

Suffian further said that the search and rescue (SAR) operation would continue to find the remaining three victims by focusing on Sectors A and C.

Meanwhile, Selangor Fire and Rescue Department deputy director Wan Md Razali Wan Ismail said the search team found early signs of the four bodies at 10.43am.

“The team detected the tent along with other personal belongings through excavation works using an excavator before the K9 tracker dogs were sent in to trace the victims and managed to find four bodies in the same tent,” he said.

On the SAR operation, which has now entered its seventh day, Wan Md Razali said the Armed Forces and General Operations Force personnel were mobilised from 9am to conduct inspections, including at the nearby river, to see if there are any victims outside the landslide area.

A Bernama check at the on-scene command post (PKTK) found that several media practitioners were given the opportunity to see for themselves the site of the landslide while the SAR team vehicles were seen entering and leaving the area to deliver personnel and food. — Bernama