KUALA LUMPUR – The landslide near the Father’s Organic Farm campsite in Gohtong Jaya, Batang Kali early Friday morning is only one of many similar fatal tragedies in Malaysia.
A total of 24 victims have been found dead while nine people are still missing. A total of 94 victims were affected by the landslide.
The following are among similar incidents that have occurred in the country, starting with the worst tragedy, the Highland Towers collapse in 1993 that killed 48 people.
December 11, 1993: Block 1 of Highland Towers in Taman Hillview, Ulu Klang, Selangor collapsed after a major landslide caused by heavy rains. The incident resulted in 48 deaths.
June 30, 1995: A landslide hit vehicles about 200m from the Karak junction on a slippery road leading to Genting Highlands during heavy rain. A total of 21 people were killed and 23 others were injured.
May 31, 2006: Four people were killed in landslides that struck Kg Pasir, Ulu Klang, Selangor.
December 26, 2007: Nine wooden houses were destroyed by a landslide in Kg Baru Cina, Kapit, Sarawak, claiming two lives.
December 6, 2008: A landslide in Bukit Antarabangsa, Ulu Klang, Ampang, killed four people and injured 15. A total of 14 upscale bungalows were damaged in the incident.
January 16, 2009: Two Indonesian workers were killed when Canada Hill collapsed on their housing quarters located at the foot of a hill fronting Miri, Sarawak.
February 12, 2009: A worker was killed in a landslide at a construction site for a 43-storey condominium in Bukit Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur.
March 23, 2020: A landslide occurred at Mount Jerai, near Gurun, Kedah, killing two people. The authorities believed that the incident was caused by illegal excavation work and was not a natural geological disaster.
May 21, 2011: A landslide at Kg Gahal, Felcra Semungkis, Hulu Langat, Selangor claimed the lives of 16 people – including 13 children at the Hidayah Madrasah Al-Taqwa orphanage.
The orphanage was located in a hilly rural area that was vulnerable to landslides. No other structure was affected other than the orphanage building. Subsequent investigations concluded that prolonged rainfall, coupled with disturbances on the hillslopes nearby, had resulted in the landslide.
June 5, 2015: A 6.0-magnitude earthquake in Sabah triggered major landslides on Mount Kinabalu. A total of 18 people lost their lives on the mountain, including 10 Singaporeans, six Malaysians, and one victim each from China and Japan. About 137 climbers were stranded on the mountain and subsequently rescued.
October 21, 2017: A massive landslide at a construction site in Tg Bungah, George Town, Penang claimed 11 lives – all of them workers – comprising a local, five Bangladeshis, two Indonesians, two from Myanmar, and a Pakistani.
The workers had been working on the underground portion of the site when the landslide occurred.
March 23, 2020: A landslide at Mount Jerai, near Gurun, Kedah, triggered by illegal excavation activity, killed two people.
November 10, 2020: Two people were killed in a landslide at the Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat, Tambun, Ipoh, Perak.
July 17, 2021: A man died when a landslide swept the vehicle he was driving into a pile of earth at Jalan Haji Baki, Kuching, Sarawak.
September 15, 2021: A landslide at Segumau Madsiang along the Penampang-Tambunan road, Sabah, killed two people – Salmaah Hamid, 25, and 5-year-old Rosatima Asbirin.
December 2, 2021: Two people were killed when a lorry and an MPV were buried under a landslide at Section 27 of the Simpang Pulai-Blue Valley road in Cameron Highlands.
March 10, 2022: A landslide occurred at Jalan Teratai 1/2J, Taman Bukit Permai in Ampang, Selangor. The incident claimed four lives.
July 27, 2022: Two children were killed, while two adults were injured after their house in Taman Elok, Jalan Bukit Nenas, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, was hit by a landslide. – The Vibes, December 18, 2022
