Malaysia quake kills 11 people as dozens try to climb down Mount Kinabalu
Malaysian authorities race to reach 137 climbers on Mount Kinabalu, a major tourist draw in Sabah, as magnitude 6 tremor triggers rockfalls
A magnitude-5.9 earthquake struck near Southeast Asia's highest mountain yesterday, killing at least 11 people and left another eight missing. More than a hundred people were stranded on the peak, Malaysian officials said.
“As at noon time, 11 bodies have been recovered (two identified) and eight people are still missing,” Masidi Manjun, the tourism minister for the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island, said on his Twitter account.
Malaysian rescuers had earlier today brought down to safety 137 hikers who had been stuck on the mountain for up to 18 hours, their descent blocked by damage to a key trail and the threat of continuing rockfalls.
The quake struck early on Friday near the picturesque mountain, a popular tourist destination, sending landslides and huge granite boulders tumbling down from the 4,095-metre peak’s wide, jagged crown.
The quake, one of the strongest in the country in decades, jolted a wide area of Sabah state, shattering windows, cracking walls and sending people fleeing from buildings in the nearby state capital of Kota Kinabalu.
But no reports of major damage have emerged and no other casualties have yet been reported outside of those that occurred on the mountain.