Unstable earth halts search for landslide victim

Unstable earth has stopped a police search for one still feared missing in yesterday's Bukit Antarabangsa landslide that killed four and trapped thousands.

Police spent the night searching for the last missing person after pulling out Indonesian maid Surinah's body from the rubble at 7.40pm.

But Selangor Chief Police Officer Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar stopped the search this morning due to earth movements, saying the operation would resume after getting the go-ahead from the Public Works Institute of Malaysia (Ikram).

Fifteen people were treated for injuries while 93 others were rescued in the 3.30am landslide, which occured near the Highland Towers collapse 15 years ago. Police also airlifted 13 people, including some pregnant and sickly.

Authorities had earlier said they will use heavy equipment to clear the rubble and sea of mud in the leafy suburb with a highly-prized view of the city skyline.

The government has lamented the tragedy and has banned all hillside developments even as the residents sought temporary shelter and reclaimed their dead.

But the Indonesian Embassy here expressed regret that the Malaysian authorities did not inform it that an Indonesian maid was one of the victims of the massive landslide.

The embassy's Minister Counsellor Amiruddin Pandjaitan said he was also not entertained by the police and local media when he tried to get confirmation on the matter.

Amiruddin, who was accompanied by Third Secretary Herry Laksono, said they also failed to claim the body of Surinah, Bernama reported.

"We could not claim the body as it was not formally identified. We will ask Surinah's employer to identify the body and claim it tomorrow," he said.

The other dead have been named as veterinarian Dr N. Yogeswari, 40, accountant Ng Yee Ping, 30, and Shaiful Khas Shaharuddin, 20.

Police assured the nearly 3,000 evacuated residents that their homes will be kept safe by patrolling officers.

Meanwhile, former deputy prime minister Tun Musa Hitam, who lost his son in the Highland Towers collapse, said nobody seemed to have learnt from that tragedy.

"So many years have since passed and today there are incidents like this happening again," Bernama quoted him as saying.

Musa's son, Rashid Carlos, and the latter's wife, Rozita, were among the 48 people who died in the Highland Towers tragedy on Dec 11, 1983.