Mt Kinabalu summit trail safe, reopens today
KOTA KINABALU: The Mount Kinabalu summit trail is safe and will be reopened today, state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said.
Masidi lifted the temporary closure order following the earthquake on Thursday night, after a forward team led by Sabah Parks director Dr Jamili Nais found minor damage and the lodgings intact when inspecting the length of the 8.72km trail from Timpohon Gate to the 4,095m-high Low’s Peak.
“There was no significant damage. There was some minor damage to the trail, but it was repaired. The route is safe to be used and the accommodation at Panalaban (formerly Laban Rata) is unaffected,” he said.
The near 10-second earthquake that measured at 5.2 magnitude on the Richter scale struck at 9.06pm in Ranau, about 100km from here. The earthquake struck at a depth of 5km.
Over 200 people on the mountain, including 130 climbers, were successfully evacuated, and all arrived at Timpohon Gate, the starting point for the climb, between 1.30am and 4.30am.
Masidi said the decision to lift the suspension came after discussions with Sabah parks, mountain guides, the Mountain Search-andRescue Team (Mosar), as well as Sutera Sanctuary Lodges and Mountain Torq.
“All the relevant stakeholders recommended the ministry to declare the trail safe for climbing and can be reopened to the public tomorrow (today).” he said.
Jamili and his team of nine, including park rangers, Mosar team members and staff of the Sutera Sanctuary Lodges, will spend the night in the Panalaban area as an additional measure to ensure all was safe.
In Kota Belud, damages at the SMK Taun Gusi teachers’ quarters here worsened following the earthquake. The quarters, already damaged in the 2015 earthquake, saw cracks on the building growing bigger.
A resident at the quarters, Datuk Mazinal Datu Jamalin, in his 50s, said: “There were already three cracks on Block B following the earthquake three years ago, and they grew bigger last night.”
Another resident, Noriah Abd Rahim, 42, said she was with her three children on the second floor of the same block when the earthquake happened.
“I quickly took the children out of the house to an open area,” she said.