Three vehicles were reported to have been caught in the landslide occurring along Jalan Simpang Pulai – Cameron Highlands yesterday (December 2).
The incident that occurred at around 1.30pm was believed to involve a multipurpose vehicle (MPV), a lorry, and another car which model has not been announced.
A spokesperson of the state fire and rescue department operations centre said that they received an emergency call regarding the incident at around 1.44pm.
According to the spokesperson, search and rescue (SAR) operations involved 121 personnel from various agencies including the police, the Malaysia Civil Defence Force, and the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART). Four tracker dogs from the K9 Unit were also dispatched to assist SAR operations.
The operations were led by Assistant Director of Operations of the Perak Fire Department, Senior Fire Superintendent II Muhammad Shahrizal Aris.
As of 5pm yesterday, the rescue team had successfully determined the locations of the buried vehicles and had worked tirelessly to extract them from the debris. For this purpose, two excavators were utilised.
Also on site were Perak Police Chief, Mior Faridalathrash Wahid and Director of the Perak Fire and Rescue Department, Azmi Osman.
In the meantime, Mior Faridalathrash revealed that one of the victims has been identified as Muhammad Hafiz Hamdi, 31, who was a lorry driver transporting vegetables to Ipoh from Cameron Highlands. Another victim was Tan Chee Heng, 36, the driver of a Toyota Alphard. Both bodies have been retrieved from the debris.
“Based on initial information, it is believed that there is one more lorry driver who was also caught in the landslide.
“However, the victim’s condition is currently unknown and rescue efforts are still being carried out by the SAR team,” he said.
Rosli Mansor
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