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KUALA LUMPUR – Rescuers have found the last remaining victim of the Batang Kali landslide, according to national news agency Bernama who quoted police officials on the ground at the accident site.
While the exact time has yet to be confirmed, the discovery of the body now tallies to 31 total deaths from the tragedy.
It is believed that the body will be sent to Sg Buloh Hospital for a post-mortem and identification.
The last victim has been identified as 11-year-old Eng Shao Qi.
According to SJKC Mun Choong parent-teacher association head U Chin Ong, the boy’s mother was already going through an extremely difficult time as she had also lost her husband and daughter in the tragedy.
Hulu Selangor police chief Suffian Abdullah said Eng’s body was found inside a sleeping bag at a depth of 1.5m at 4.53pm, face down on the hillside about 4m from the campsite in sector A (hillview).
He added that the body was fully clothed but had started to decompose.
“The search-and-rescue operation will continue with flushing and investigation at the site to ensure that the area is really safe.
“If there is no latest development, we will announce the status of the operation tomorrow," he told a press conference here.
Eng's body was carefully loaded onto a police transport at 5:25pm and left the accident site shortly after.
Previously, Suffian said 97 personnel from the fire brigade, police, army, and Civil Defence Force, with assistance from nine K9 tracker dogs, were involved in the search for the final victim.
Meanwhile, Selangor Fire and Rescue Department deputy director Wan Md Razali Md Wan Ismail said Eng was found after being manually dug up by rescue personnel who detected the flow of liquid, believed to be from the body.
He said in total, 20 bodies were found in Sector A, one in Sector B (the farm view camp) and 10 in Sector C (riverside).
A check at the incident area control centre at 7.20pm found rescuers had entered the search location to clean up the area.
The landslide at 2.42am on December 16 had left 61 survivors and 31 deceased out of a total of 92 people. – The Vibes, December 24, 2022
