Narrow escape for family of 13 in Camerons
LANDSLIDE: Cars parked outside guest house damaged
NOR Azniza Abdull Aziz, 31, thanked her lucky stars after escaping the landslide that damaged Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s (TNB) Sharples Bungalow in Tanah Rata on Sunday.
She said her family of 13, including her parents and two siblings, along with their children, had just arrived here after a visit to the Mardi Agrotech Park nearby about 3pm on Sunday.
“It was raining heavily and I saw water flowing from a hill opposite the bungalow. We were resting in the living room after parking our cars when we felt a slight tremor. Next thing I knew, mud and trees were flowing towards us, damaging the cars.
“It happened so fast. We could only think of saving our lives as we ran out through the side door. I shudder to think what would have happened if we were near our cars outside the building,” she said yesterday.
Azniza said she could only watch in horror as the cars were hit by the debris.
Despite losing her cars, the TNB staff based in Kuala Lumpur said she was grateful that no one was hurt, including her sibling’s year-old infant.
She said her family had arrived here on Saturday and was scheduled to leave yesterday.
“We are going back to our parents’ house in Taiping, Perak, before returning home. TNB is arranging everything for us. We were relocated temporarily to TNB’s Kilat Bungalow (located 5km away) after the incident,” said Azniza, adding that it was her first time in Cameron Highlands.
Checks at the site yesterday showed that clearing work was ongoing. The Sharples Bungalow, located less than 10m from the
Pic by L. Manimaran hill, was off limits.
The clearing work was temporarily halted due to rain about 4pm yesterday. The damaged cars were towed to the Tanah Rata police station.
Cameron Highlands Fire and Rescue Department head Muhamad Haziq Hazmi and several policemen were at the site to monitor the situation.
Haziq said the affected part of the hill, which is about 15m high, was being monitored for soil movement.
“No movement has been detected so far. TNB contractors are clearing the debris before taking further action.”
Haziq said apart from the hill in Jalan Tengkolok, his team was also monitoring other hotspots in Ringlet, Terisu
in a landslide in Tanah Rata, and Tringkap.
He said a team of 29 firemen, including several (police) officers, were on standby for any eventualities.
A TNB officer, believed to be a staff member from the headquarters, requested reporters to wait for an official statement.
Car owner Mohd Syahril Haron, 33, said he felt a slight tremor at his home, located a few hundred metres from the site where the landslide happened.
Syahril, a TNB employee based here, said he had parked his car near where the landslide took place as there was road construction work going on in front of his house.
In the 3pm landslide, the front portion of the Sharples Bungalow and four cars were damaged.