KOTA KINABALU: The body of the 97-year-old man buried in a landslide that hit his house in Kg Serapung, Penampang near here during heavy rain on Thursday (Sept 11) has been recovered by firemen.
According to a Fire and Rescue Services Department spokesman, they found the body under a pile of debris on the ground floor of the two-storey semi-permanent wooden house at 10.35am on Friday (Sept 12).
"Firemen digging through the debris took 10 more minutes to get his body out," the spokesman said.
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He said that firemen, policemen and villagers helped carry the body on a stretcher over about 750m of hilly terrain to an area not affected by the mudslides and floods.
The body was handed over to police for further action.
Earlier, firemen and other agencies cut down trees, cleared piles of debris and dug through mounds of earth in attempts to find the victim while awaiting an excavator from the Public Works Department (JKR).
The deceased was identified as Gouling Gindar, who was bedridden and living there with his wife, who was also not in good health.
Relatives living nearby managed to pull her to safety during the landslide that occurred at around 6pm on Thursday.
