Batang Kali landslide search dog collapses from exhaustion


Tracking dogs working at the Batang Kali landslide site are now being deployed in rotation to avoid them from becoming too exhausted. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Afif Abd Halim, December 16, 2022.

WHILE many sharing photos on social media show the rescue team fatigued in the search-and-rescue operation for landslide victims here, most were oblivious to their silent companions who faced the same exhaustion. 

The rescue team’s companion, the K9 detection unit, has also been working tirelessly in the operation to locate buried victims of the Batang Kali landslide since Friday. 

Grim-faced, ferocious on command, and with a keen sense of smell thousands of times more acute than humans’, these four-legged heroes are deployed to search in any condition – thick mud, slush or rain. 

But during the critical rescue operation at the Batang Kali landslide, K9 sniffer dog Blake, an English springer spaniel, finally collapsed, exhausted. 

According to Selangor Fire and Rescue Department director Norazam Khamis, the canine passed out after two consecutive days of hard work and is now resting.

“After two days of slogging more than the allotted time, they (detection dogs) badly need to rest and recuperate though they are not injured.

“That’s why at this stage, we will rotate them in turn, starting with three (dogs) first, then we will use the rest,” he said in today’s media conference.

Norazam said so far, there are 11 tracking dogs placed on standby at the scene to assist in the search, with six from the Fire and Rescue Department, four from police, and one from the army. 

“We may ask for more (dogs) if necessary,” he said. 

As of yesterday afternoon, 24 victims have been confirmed dead out of 94 people caught in a landslide at the Father’s Organic Farm campsite in Gohtong Jaya on Jalan Genting-Batang Kali.

A total of 61 people survived while nine are still missing. The unrelenting search for them continued today at 9am after it was suspended yesterday at 9pm. – Bernama, December 18, 2022.


Sign up or sign in here to comment.


Comments