Tanjung Bungah landslide: Third body recovered

GEORGE TOWN: The body of a third victim in the Tanjung Bungah landslide has been recovered.

Penang Fire and Rescue Department director Saadon Mokhtar said a third victim was recovered at 1.15pm Saturday.

He said they were now combing the area measuring 160,000 sq ft for 11 other victims.

He added that the earth was washed down from a height of 35m.

Fourteen workers were at the Tanjung Bungah construction site when thousands of tons of laterite earth slid down from a cut slope about 10m high on Saturday (Oct 21).

 

"We are now using the canine unit to help in the search. We have also cordoned off certain slopes which are deemed unsafe at the site," he said, adding that the workers were carrying out construction work at the basement when the incident took place.

Earlier, Penang Island City Council mayor Datuk Maimunah Mohd Sharif confirmed the discovery of two bodies.

Fourteen workers were at the Tanjung Bungah construction site when thousands of tons of laterite earth slid down from a cut slope about 10m high on Saturday (Oct 21).

She said the bodies of two dead were recovered from the scene, the first at 9.55am and second at 10.43am.

“We don’t know what caused the landslide yet. But it cannot be due to wet weather. It has not been raining for days on the island,” she told reporters.

MBPP issued a stop-work order on the construction site until the search and rescue is completed.