“I HEARD a loud noise like the sound of thunder before seeing the campsite at Zone A buried under piles of earth,” said a witness of the landslide, which buried a campsite at the Father’s Organic Farm in Batang Kali, near Genting Highlands, early today.

Teh Lynn Xuan, 22, said it happened at about 2am as she was preparing to go to sleep in a tent that she shared with her mother at Zone B Hill Top.

She said she and about 20 relatives and friends from Malacca, Selangor and Singapore had been at the campsite since three days ago for the school holidays.

“The tent I was staying with my mother collapsed and we were lucky to get out in time and go to higher ground. Everything happened so quickly,” she said when met by reporters at the Hulu Yam Baru police station near Batang Kali today.

Another victim, Leong Jim Meng, 57, said prior to that, he had felt the area at the campsite shaking followed by a loud rumbling sound.

“My family and I were trapped because our tent was buried, but we managed to get out and go to a nearby parking area before calling the authorities,” he said.

Another victim who only wanted to be known as Lee, 28, said it was drizzling at the time and he only realised there was a landslide after hearing a loud noise.

“I saw the campsite at Zone A buried by the landslide and rushed to the scene and managed to pull out two people – a woman and her child,” he said.

According to the police, about 100 people are believed trapped in the landslide and a search-and-rescue operation is being carried out with the assistance of the K9 tracker dog unit, the emergency medical rescue service from the Sentosa, Ampang, Pandan, Kota Anggerik, Kajang and Andalas fire and rescue stations and the special tactical operation and rescue team. – Bernama, December 16, 2022.