BATANG KALI, Dec 20 — The deadly Batang Kali landslide will be etched in the memories of Malaysians for a long time after this.
The horror, suffering and pain that the families and loved ones are experiencing are nothing short of a nightmare.
And while the search and rescue operations remain intense, member of the media are also covering the horrific incident.
Malay Mail’s photographer Shafwan Zaidon got an insight of the operations on the second day (Saturday) when government authorities allowed press members into the Red Zone (ground zero for operations) at the Father’s Organic Farm.
Press members were allowed to enter in batches.
“I entered with members of the press from The Malaysian Insight, Oriental Daily and Majalah 3. We were briefed by safety personnel and went in at about 11am.
“We were allowed to get footage for about an hour with the help of Fire Department personnel and Fire Superintendent, Kumaran. I was shocked by the sound of the excavators against the flowing river. I was overcome by sadness when I saw the site in person.”
Members from the Fire Department, Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team were stationed at every sector of the operation site.
There were also the police, army and Malaysia Civil Defence Force personnel.
“We were also told to be careful with every step they made because there was just so much mud everywhere. One wrong step could land us getting sunk in mud.”
Staff and officers from the Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia were using the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) machine to help detect missing victims.
To date, 24 out of 94 victims have died while 61 people were rescued.
Nine remain missing at the time this article was written.
Here are more photographs of the Red Zone.
