Praying for a miracle: Tan showing a picture of her daughter, Hong, who is still missing.
HULU SELANGOR: While some wait for news of their loved ones, others are in the throes of grief after the predawn landslide yesterday in Batang Kali, Selangor.
The Ulu Yam Baru police station was turned into a makeshift base for volunteers and family members waiting for victims to be sent down from the landslide area.
Several victims were seen quietly sitting on their own, the shock still evident on their faces.
One repeatedly tried to scrap the dirt off a muddy bag while a family member cried silently.
Tan Ah Choe, the mother of teacher Hong Mei Jing who was still missing as at press time, said she hoped that her daughter had been sent directly to the hospital.
“I don’t know how many people were with her or the exact details of her camping trip, but I know she was in the area.
“In the morning I was informed that a landslide had occurred and I called the police. They told me to come wait here because they would be bringing the victims to the station,” she said.
The family members of an eight-year-old boy who had gone missing in the landslide are sick with worry over his fate.
Speaking for the boy’s father who only wanted to be identified as Loh, Pastor Terry Tee of Antioch Christian Church said he received a call from Loh at around 7am yesterday asking for the congregation to pray for the family.
Tee, who has known the family of three for 20 years, said they were supposed to go to Taiping for the school holidays but changed their plans upon receiving an invitation to join friends for a camping trip.
“We are hoping that a list of the dead and injured can be issued with names of the medical centres they have been sent to for the benefit of their families and relatives,” said Tee, who was at Hospital Selayang to visit the boy’s mother.
The father’s brother was also present but was too distraught to speak.A list of names would be useful as it will help lessen the families’ trauma and anxiety said Chin Kim Lin who was looking for his colleague’s daughter at the same hospital.
Though his colleague’s son is recovering from his injuries at Hospital Kuala Kubu Baru, the daughter’s whereabouts were still unknown.
Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Aiman Athirah Sabu said that help, including counselling services, will be provided to the victims.
