WHEN Mustakim Rimon, an experienced firefighter at the Selangor Fire and Rescue department, received a phone call about a landslide in Batang Kali, on December 16, he thought it was a minor incident.

He was shocked to learn that around 100 people were at the site when disaster struck .

“I stepped on the gas,” the 40-year-old told The Malaysian Insight.

Upon arrival, Mustakim met a first responder team from the Kuala Kubu Baru Fire and Rescue Department and several police officers. The area was pitch black at close to 3am. The only illumination came from their flashlights.

Mustakim said he had to walk about 400m to reach the campsite, where he saw a group of survivors.

“I also saw them carrying two dead bodies – a mother and child – from a car.  As I walked further up the hill slope, a victim who was half buried was calling for help,” said Mustakim.

Mustakim was not aware of the extent of the disaster until the sun rose at dawn. The fireman was astounded to see the amount of earth that fell from the landslide and the damage it had caused to the campsite.

“This was one of the worst landslides I had ever witnessed. In sector C, the earth was 15 feet (1.5m) deep.

“The scene was frightening. On that very first day we brought out 16 bodies.

“As a senior officer, I ordered my men to find an escape route for rescuers and a safe path for survivors to walk. This was in case of a second landslide,” he said.

In the first 24 hours, rescuers retrieved 21 bodies and three more the next day.

For Mustakim, the most tragic moment in the mission was the discovery of the body of a woman clutching her dead daughter in the mud

“The embrace was so strong and you can see that they did not want to let go of one another. They did not want to be separated. It was very moving,” he said.

Trauma

Mustakim said many rescue workers suffered under the harsh weather conditions.

Rain made the ground soft and the digging difficult.

He said many of his men were demoralised by the third day as many people remained missing.

“Everyone was tired and demoralised as they could not recover bodies for two straight days.

“The area was muddy due to rain. We brought in heavy machinery to help with the digging mission but we had to be extra careful.

“Based on the information we had gathered from survivors, we slowly dug in areas where we believed there could be bodies. On the fifth day we found a body – an old man – and his dead dog.

“The next day another body was found and we started to believe again that we could accomplish the mission,” Mustakim said.

Mustakim spent nine days at the site, returning home only to pack fresh clothing before returning to the search.

On the seventh day, four bodies were recovered after the team detected a tent and personal belongings through excavation work. K9 tracker dogs were sent in to find the victims.

That left one person still unaccounted for, and rescuers were determined to find him, an 11-year-old boy.

“We were trying to think where this last body could possibly be. One of my senior men, Juyana Musa, who has 28 years of experience in search and rescue missions, studied the ground area not far from where two bodies were first found in sector A.

“As he was searching the area, he discovered black liquid coming out from the mud but there was no foul smell to indicate a body. But we dug the area slowly and after digging about 1.5m deep, they discovered a sleeping bag with a body inside.

“The boy was in his sleeping bag and the body was starting to rot. We all felt relieved that we had managed to locate all the bodies but at the same time, we felt really bad for the family members,” said Mustakim.

Gratitude

Despite the grief they must be feeling, Mustakim said the survivors showed the rescue workers nothing but respect and appreciation.

Mustakim said he was greeted with smiles and gratitude when he showed up at the scene.

“They behaved as though they were sorry to trouble us. They thanked us many times for coming even though they had just suffered catastophic losses.

“It was truly touching. Although they were in pain and sadness they showed us respect and appreciation. We thank them for that.”

A landslide hit the Father’s Organic Farm campsite at 2.42am on December 16.

Ninety-four people were the site, near Genting Highlands, when disaster struck. Thirty-one people were killed.

More than 250 people from the police, armed forces, Fire and Rescue Department, Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team and civil defence force took part in the search and rescue effort. – January 6, 2023.