NORAINI Rosanti Abdullah and her Pakistani husband Ali Razak Mohammad Jamil just married a few months ago.

They are now expecting a baby with Noraini, 39, two months pregnant.

But whether Ali, a construction worker in his twenties, will get to meet his child is unknown now. He is one of the 14 people buried alive in a landslide at a construction site in Tanjung Bungah this morning.

The bodies of three men – all Bangladeshis – had already been discovered earlier today, but Ali is among the 11 still missing.

Noraini, who is Indonesian, knows nothing of her husband’s fate but she already fears the worst, as she stands outside the construction site, which has been cordoned off by the authorities.

“I found out about the landslide and that he was among those buried alive at about 9am. My father told me. He works at the site too.

“There is still no news about Ali. But the police told me to be around to identify my husband, if they find him,” she said earlier this evening.

The search and rescue operations by various authorities such as the fire and rescue department were already suspended due to nightfall, but Noraini continued to wait in front of the construction site, holding a safety helmet provided to her if she was required to enter the site.

“We live nearby. He usually gets off work at 6.30pm. This morning, he went to work as usual, after drinking coffee.

“He said nothing in particular to me. He is a quiet man. There was no sign at all today that something bad was going to happen,” she said, holding back tears.

“It was two weeks ago when he suddenly asked me what would I do if he was not around anymore,” the housewife said.

Ali, who has lived in Malaysia for over three years, started work at the construction site just over a month ago.

He has not even drawn his first pay yet – he was to be paid every 45 days, Noraini said.

The workers trapped in the landslide, including a Malaysian site supervisor, were working on soil-nailing to further enhance the stability of the temporary slope at the site when the incident happened, the developer said.

The company Taman Sri Bunga Sdn Bhd, a unit of BSG Property, a major Penang-based development firm, also expressed “deep regret” over the incident.

It said in a statement that it has set up its own investigation team to assist the authorities.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said he would propose that the state formed a Commission of Inquiry into the tragedy to investigate how it happened and how to prevent similar incidents.

Meanwhile, the Penang Island City Council has issued an immediate stop work order on the project to build a 50-storey block of affordable apartments.

Authorities said search and rescue will continue tomorrow morning at 8am. – October 21, 2017.