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Rescue teams continue the search for victims caught in a landslide at a tourist campground in Malaysia. Vincent Thian/PA
Malaysia
Malaysia landslide death toll rises to 23
Most victims were families enjoying a short camping holiday during the school break.
RESCUERS IN MALAYSIA have found the bodies of a mother and her son, raising the death toll from a landslide on an unlicensed campground in the country to 23, with 10 others still missing.
Selangor state fire chief Norazam Khamis said the two bodies were found buried under three feet of mud and debris.
He said there was hope of finding survivors if they had clung on to piles or branches or rocks, with pockets of air, but that chances were slim.
Authorities said 94 people were sleeping at the camping site on an organic farm early yesterday when the dirt fell from a road about 100 feet above them and covered about three acres.
Most were families enjoying a short holiday during the school break.
The 23 victims included six children and 13 women.
A mother and her toddler daughter were found yesterday hugging each other in a heart-rending scene, rescuers said.
Seven people were taken to hospital and dozens more were rescued unharmed.
Rescuers worked in teams on Saturday to comb through debris as deep as 26 feet.
Excavators were deployed to clear mud and fallen trees and rescue dogs were sent to sniff out possible signs of life and cadavers.
Officials said nearly 16 million cubic feet of debris – enough to fill 180 Olympic-sized swimming pools – hit the campsite.
Authorities have said the landowners did not have a licence to run a campground.
Officials are unable to pinpoint the exact cause of the landslide, which came without warning, but believed it could be due to underground water movement while the year-end monsoon rains made the soil unstable.
The government has ordered all campsites nationwide that are near rivers, waterfalls and hillsides to be shut for a week to assess their safety.
The campsite in Batang Kali, about 30 miles (48 kilometres) north of Kuala Lumpur, is a popular recreational site for locals to pitch or rent tents from the farm.
But authorities said it has been running illegally for the past two years. It has permission to run the farm but no licence to operate camping activities.
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