“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.”

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.

The four bodies recovered on Thursday were described by a rescuer as “two children sleeping between the mother and father” in a tent buried under seven metres of mud, local newspaper the New Straits Times reported.

A relative of another family who spoke to reporters at Sungai Buloh Hospital, where she had come to identify their bodies, said that she was still in shock.

“I found out through Facebook,” said the 58-year-old, who only gave the name Mary. “It’s very very sad … one family, just gone like that.”

Malaysia landslide death toll rises to 24 as bodies of woman and two children found

Other heart-wrenching discoveries from the recovery operation included the body of a three-year-old girl, who was found on Sunday still locked in her dead mother’s embrace.

Meanwhile, the body of a man hugging his dead dog was uncovered on Thursday, with the remains of another dog – also believed to be his – found nearby.

The sheer scale of the tragedy – and the fact that 10 of the victims were children – revived memories of previous disasters such as a 2011 landslide in the same state that killed 15 orphans.

Another major landslide in 1993, which killed 48 people after it brought down a 12-storey condominium block, continues to live in the collective memories of Malaysians as a cautionary tale on the dangers of life in the hills.

The area around Batang Kali, about 25km northeast of Kuala Lumpur and some 900m above sea level, is popular with city dwellers looking for a quick respite from Malaysia’s tropical heat.

Interest in camping in the highlands had spiked in recent months, following months of life indoors amid pandemic-era lockdowns.

Campsites on hilltops, along rivers and near waterfalls have been ordered to suspend their operations indefinitely.

The heavy rain has also hampered search efforts at Father’s Organic Farm.

Norazam Khamis, director of Selangor state’s fire and rescue department that has been instrumental in the search and rescue effort, was hospitalised after suffering from a minor stroke and exhaustion from being on location since the morning of the incident.

After being discharged on Thursday, Norazam returned to the site of the tragedy.

“I was discharged today so I decided to come here to give all those involved in the [search and rescue] operation some support,” he told reporters from the operations centre.

Malaysia bans camping for a week after landslide kills 21 in Genting Highlands

Meanwhile, some of the dogs helping out with the search operations became overnight celebrities following extensive coverage of their efforts, which were lauded by the public.

Mohamad Rosli, a local animal shelter operator, dispatched a van filled with “premium dog food” to keep the dogs fed “in recognition of the canine rescuers’ perseverance” and after hearing that one had passed out from exhaustion, local newspaper The Star reported.