KOTA KINABALU: Eleven people have died in three separate landslides, with at least one missing, as Sabah declared a natural disaster alert with floods and landslips battering most districts along the state’s west coast.
The state government cancelled Malaysia Day celebrations scheduled for today to focus on mobilising aid to thousands of victims trapped or displaced across at least five districts, including the state capital, following over 10 days of downpours that triggered floods and landslides since Thursday.
The situation remains critical as rains continue to pound with no signs of abating in many areas, with officials urging those in landslip and flood-prone areas to move to safer ground.
The worst tragedy struck at Kg Cenderakasih near here, where 11 members of a family were buried when a landslide flattened their wooden home in a squatter settlement along a hilly area.
Four survived, including one with a broken leg. The seven who perished comprised three adults and four children.
Arman Abdullah, Fezrul Ikhwan, Abdullah Ayan and another known as Wajid were pulled out at 11am.
By 12.37pm, rescuers found the bodies of Husaima Sarabani, 40, followed by Abdul Halid, 50, Muhammad Izzan, seven, Muhamad Khan, two and Siti Katijah, four.
At 3.28pm, the body of nine-year-old Nur Iman was recovered, and the last, 24-year-old Maslinah Abdul Halid, was found at 3.42pm.
In Papar, firefighters retrieved the bodies of Emily Johnny, 38, and her 11-year-old son, Xarell Myre Aristhotle, after a landslide struck their home in Kg Mook, Kinarut.
The woman’s husband earlier made a desperate plea in a 26-second clip that went viral, begging for an excavator to help save his family.
Hours later, he was seen exhausted and disoriented as he identified the bodies of his wife and son.
Just 40 minutes earlier, another distress report was received from Kg Maragang Tuntul, where a landslide struck three homes. Two bodies were later recovered, while one person remains missing.
A total of 76 rescuers, including firemen, police, civil defence and health officers, were deployed in Kota Kinabalu, while teams in Papar battled simultaneous emergencies in Kg Maragang Tuntul and Kg Mook.
As of 4pm, civil defence reported an increase in the number of flood evacuees, totalling 804 individuals from 209 families across 36 villages in the districts of Beaufort, Penampang and Membakut.
Penampang recorded the highest number with 425 evacuees from 100 families, followed by Membakut (202 from 54 families) and Beaufort (177 from 55 families).
A total of 10 temporary evacuation centres have been opened to shelter the displaced.
Some 26 roads in five districts were closed or affected due to floods and landslips as of yesterday, according to the Sabah Public Works Department in its updates.
The roads closed were in Beaufort district, Kota Belud, Kota Kinabalu, Papar and Penampang.
Landslips at KM35.10 cut off the Keningau-Kimanis road amid several ongoing landslips along the Penampang-Tambunan-Keningau road.
The latest floods and landslides are some of the worst to hit Sabah in recent years.
Sabah’s worst natural disaster was storm Greg that left over 200 people dead or missing in Keningau district on Dec 26, 1996.
