KUALA LUMPUR: Siti Esah Hassan was hopeful that her daughter might have been saved when the landslide occurred in Batang Kali last Saturday.
After the news of the landslide broke out, the 53-year-old rushed to various hospitals to get information on her eldest daughter Nurul Azwani Kamarulzaman, 31.
ALSO READ: Batang Kali landslide: Girl's body found, death toll rises to 25
She went to Hospital Selayang, Hospital Sungai Buloh, Hospital Kuala Kubu Baru and Hospital Kuala Lumpur where the landslide victims were sent.
She lodged a police report after she couldn’t find any information about her.
“Her employer’s father told me about the landslide in the afternoon after the news broke. He said that my daughter was among those caught in the landslide.
“My mind and heart were racing. After the news of the landslide came, I came to the realisation that my daughter might not have survived,” she said while holding back her tears in front of her house in Kampung Batu here.
ALSO READ: Batang Kali landslide: Victims at hospitals have returned home, says Nadma
Siti Esah said she doesn’t have the strength to read or watch the news of the landslide now.
She added that she will always keep her in her prayers.
Nurul Azwani was her sole breadwinner. She was the eldest of three siblings who worked as a canteen assistant at SJKC Mun Choong and was one of the victims of the landslide tragedy at the Fathers’ Organic Farm campsite in Gohtong Jaya, Batang Kali last Friday.
She was buried at the Raudhatul Sakinah Muslim cemetery (KL-Karak) in Taman Selasih the next day.
Siti Esah said Nurul Azwani was a cheerful person.
She added her daughter called her last at 10pm on Thursday.
“She only said the handphone coverage in the area was not good.”
Siti Esah said she now has her youngest daughter, Nur Hazita Kamarulzaman, 24, to be her companion at home.
Yesterday, Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar along with Social Security Organisation (Socso) chief executive Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed visited the house and handed over Socso contributions to Siti Esah.
Sivakumar said Nurul Azwani’s family was eligible to receive funeral management benefit (FPM) and survivors’ pension under the Invalidity Scheme of the Employees’ Social Security Act 1969 (Act 4).
“Siti Esah is entitled to a one-off payment of RM2,000 in funeral benefit and survivors’ pension of RM238 a month for life,” he told reporters after handing over the benefits to her.
Sivakumar also said five victims who had Socso coverage had been identified and their next of kin would get RM2,000 each in FPM and survivors’ pension of between RM475 and RM2,500 each monthly.
“The benefits for the next of kin of these five victims will be handed over soon,” he said.
