Blocked: Fire and Rescue Department personnel help bring out six workers trapped inside the Tenom Pangi hydro power plant after landslides cut off the road leading to the plant.
KOTA KINABALU: Damaged hydro power plant, blocked roads, landslides and evacuations were reported in parts of Sabah following continuous downpour over the past two days.
Among the districts affected were Kunak, Tenom, Keningau, Kundasang, Penampang, Sipitang and other surrounding areas.
One of the badly hit areas was Tenom Pangi hydro power plant where landslides cut off the road leading to the plant.
Mud and rocks also blocked the intake gate, washed away a security hut and buried some vehicles and motorcycles.
Six workers were trapped inside the vicinity, some 5km from the main intake gate when the landslide hit.
Comprising four Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) staff and two auxiliary policemen, they were eventually rescued and were unhurt.
SESB chief executive officer Mohd Yaakob Jaafar said the power plant had to be shut off for safety precautions and that efforts were under way to carry out repair works.
However, he said it did not affect the overall electricity supply on the Sabah grid system.
Sabah Fire and Rescue Department assistant director of operations Misran Bisara said they received a distress call at around 8.30am, informing them of the incident.
He said the six victims – Mohammad Raffi Yahya, 37, Yeo Vui Wang, 42, Lai Tack Lee, 59, and Ahmad Adzdzari, 29, as well as the two auxiliary policemen, Mohd Nizar Abdul Majid, 35, and Zenobius Ambutang, 41 – were brought out safely.
State Civil Defence Force said over 100 evacuees were placed in temporary relief centres in Kunak, Penampang and Sipitang as at noon.
“We expect the numbers to increase as the evacuation process is still under way,” said an official.
Incidents of collapsed houses and huts were also reported due to landslides, including one in Kampung Kinasaraban, Kundasang, in Ranau.
So far, no casualties have been reported.
