Checking in: Survivors of the landslide speaking to a hospital staff near the Ulu Yam Baru police station. — AZLINA ABDULLAH/The Star
BATANG KALI: It’s 2am on Saturday. Thankfully, the rain has stopped. The road is pitch black but a distance away, floodlights make it look like midday.
And the huge mountain of freshly-turned earth – that you can smell from far away – stands as a stark reminder of the tragedy that hit this quiet corner of the jungle a day earlier.
It’s been 24 hours since the landslide that claimed 21 lives (now 24) but ground zero continues to be a hive of activity. All efforts are centred on finding the then 12 missing victims.
No one would dare to say it – everyone is hoping against hope – but we all know the chances of getting the remaining victims out alive are slim to none. The clock is ticking down on any possible miracle.
The drizzles earlier in the night had brought jitters to the rescuers. There was always the fear of another landslide, even as they struggled through the rain to continue the search operations.
At 11.30pm, the fears were heightened. Another rumble was heard at ground zero.
The number of personnel was reduced to 20 from the initial 200, as a safety precaution. With hopes of finding anyone alive dimming by the minute, there were murmurs about stopping the operations for the night, because of wet weather conditions.
The shoulders were slumped, the faces glum. The dying of hope is not a sight to behold.
But even amidst the tragedy, there were heartwarming scenes. Streams of rescuers came from all over, some from as far away as Penang, many of them volunteer firemen.
A 30-year-old special tactical operation and rescue team (STORM) member was among the first to arrive at the scene. He reached ground zero at 5am on Friday, just hours after the landslide.
“Being a father of two, I was distressed to see so many families caught in this tragedy.
“It was especially painful when a woman was found dead, hugging a child,” he said.
Describing the operations, the officer said an excavator was a necessity at ground zero.
“The search was extremely difficult due to the thick mud and soil, which is why an excavator was needed.
“Even then, we have to be careful. There could be victims buried beneath,” he said.
It wasn’t just rescuers who came to help. The whole nation stopped and prayed for victims and almost everyone was ready to help.
One journalist on the way to the site stopped for dinner at a restaurant near Batu Caves. The owner Aunty Yen was distraught over the tragedy.
“When she learnt that we were heading to ground zero, she immediately prepared 20 packs of food for the rescuers.
“The owner of a neighbouring shop too offered crates of mineral water for the rescuers, too,” she said.
The relatives of the victims were in Batang Kali, but they were not allowed near ground zero, as it was cordoned off. They could just wait, many of them in anguish, at the police station, for news from above.
Only the media, telco operators and rescue teams were allowed entry.
The media personnel were also left frustrated. Getting reliable reception to deliver crucial information on the tragedy was difficult.
Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil, when told of it, said he would raise the issue with stakeholders to have better communication measures in place during disasters.
The telcos themselves were dismayed at being blamed for the bad connectivity.
“It was an exceptionally challenging situation for us. We even brought up a Cell on Wheels (COW) truck to the site but it was too big, so we returned with a smaller one.
“We are in a thick forest. It is difficult to get the (reception) line from ground zero to the main transmission tower,” an operator said anonymously.
He, in turn, said the constant visits by ministers to the site were a thorn in the side.
“Each time a minister comes, our vehicles are temporarily halted from entering the site. With multiple minister visits (throughout the day) it was extremely difficult to get the job done quickly,” he said.
Difficult or not, everyone just got on with it.
As the hours passed and the night drew deeper, the chilly air made the operations centre, located at least 4km away from the tragedy site, extremely cold.
But no one was complaining. The fire in the hearts of the rescuers was too strong. They were ready to continue even before the crack of dawn.
