THE search operation has ended with the recovery of 11 victims of the Tanjung Bungah landslide, but their families’ grief is just beginning.

Especially so for the family of Malaysian site supervisor Yuan Kouk Wern, 27, who perished while on duty so close to home.

A representative for Yuan’s family has asked for space and privacy to conduct proper rites for their son.

“We are going through the process and paperwork to reclaim the body. We have not much to say as it is too early for anything,” said family friend David Giam, 54 at Penang Hospital today.

“The father and mother are distraught.”

He said the family has expressed their gratitude to the authorities for working hard to recover their son’s body from the site.

“(We) want to thank the police, the Fire and Rescue Department, St John Ambulance, the Tzu Chi Foundation and the city council for their work over the past three days and everything they did to help to remove the body from the site,” he said.

The 27-year-old Yuan was the eldest in the family and had a younger sister.

Giam added the funeral is expected to be on Friday and the body will be cremated.

The family is currently heading to the landslide site to perform a ritual to invite their son’s soul back to the body.

Asked if they would take any legal action against the developer or the city council, Giam said it was too early for the family to decide.

“They are too distraught (to decide) on anything. The parents just want to give their son a proper send-off,” Giam said. – October 23, 2017.