Malaysia rescuers hunt for final victim of deadly landslide tragedy as nation mourns

Once found, the 11-year-old pupil of a Chinese primary school in Kuala Lumpur will become the 31st victim of last week’s landslide in Batang Kali

The disaster has shaken the nation, as reports emerged of whole families, groups of children and pet dogs being buried alive by debris as they slept

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The mother of one of the landslide’s victims grieves for her son during his funeral procession in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 8:30pm, 23 Dec 2022

Search teams on Friday continued to scour the site of last week’s landslide in Malaysia for the body of a 11-year-old boy who is believed to be the last victim of a disaster that has so far killed 30 people, mostly women and children.

The boy, a year-five pupil at Mun Choong Chinese Primary School in Kuala Lumpur and son of the school’s canteen owner, was among the 92 people hit on Friday last week by a massive early morning landslide that tore through a hillside campsite in Selangor as they slept.

The disaster has shaken the nation, with the public glued to their smartphones, computer screens and televisions for updates on the grim recovery of bodies, a gruelling task that is now in its eighth day.

“With the latest four bodies found [yesterday], the death tally from the landslide is now 30 while the number of survivors is 61,” said Selangor state police chief Arjunaidi Mohamed late on Thursday. “We are still looking for one more victim, a male child.”

Rescuers use an earth mover last weekend as they searched for victims of the landslide at a campsite in Batang Kali, Selangor. Photo: Reuters

The landslide in Batang Kali, Selangor dislodged more than half a million cubic metres of mud, soil, and rocks, which cascaded down the hillside near the popular Genting Highlands casino resort and buried the campsite, called Father’s Organic Farm, under as much as 30 metres of debris.