DHAKA:  A landslide in Tanjung Bungah area of Malaysia’s George Town left three people dead while at least 11 others including Bangladesh national are feared buried.

A 10m-high hill slope came crashing down next to a construction site not far from the Penang campus of the Tunku Abdul Rahman College in Tanjung Bungah at around 08:30am local time Saturday (October 21), reports Malay Mail Online. 

The three dead were among 14 construction workers including a Malaysia national who were buried by the landslide.

The bodies of the three were recovered.

Of them, two were from Indonesia while the other one from Myanmar.

Penang Fire and Rescue Department director Saadon Mokhtar said the search was ongoing for 11 more people believed to be still buried underneath the muddy soil.

“We believe some of the victims are buried deep underneath the muddy soil, as deep as 35m below the surface,” he said.

“We are also getting the canine unit to assist in the search and rescue operations,” he added.

The workers had been working on the underground portion of the site when the landslide occurred, he said.

However, Saadon added that his department has detected other unsafe areas in the vicinity and ordered for all construction work to be stopped immediately.

BDST: 1501 HRS, OCT 21, 2017
SI/SMS