Batang Kali Tragedy: Dewan Rakyat expresses appreciation to rescue agencies

KUALA LUMPUR - The Dewan Rakyat on Monday expressed its appreciation to all rescue agencies at ‘ground zero’ who were involved in the mission to find and rescue victims of the landslide tragedy at Father's Organic Farm, Batang Kali, Selangor.

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said, almost 700 members from various agencies were involved in the mission which started early last Friday morning.

"The Dewan Rakyat is deeply affected and saddened by the incident involving a total of 94 victims, some of whom were children.

"Up to now, a total of 61 victims have been successfully found and 24 victims have been found dead at the scene, while 9 others have not been found," he said when presenting a motion on the landslide incident at the August house.

He added that local authorities were also instructed to monitor and improve security at resort sites in their respective states.

Currently, the search and rescue mission is still ongoing

Meanwhile, Anwar also expressed his condolences to the family members of Nur Hilwa Edrea Mohd Hariz Zaifan from Terengganu who were victims of the floods on Sunday.

"Please be alert and avoid high-risk areas during this monsoon season," he said.

The flood situation in five states worsened when the number of victims increased up to 26,326 people from 7,693 families who were placed in 296 temporary evacuation centers (PPS) as of 11 am on Monday.

Terengganu had the most people, with 13,819, according to the Social Welfare Department (JKM) portal, followed by Kelantan (12,343), Johor (75), Perak (49) and Pahang (40).