INANAM: In the early hours of a rain-drenched morning, tragedy unfolded in Kampung Cenderakasih when a landslide buried a home – and with it, seven lives, including four children.
For 25-year-old Muhamad Azri Mikri, a close relative who lives just metres away from the house that was swallowed by the earth, the horror began with a faint, haunting sound.
“I happened so fast. I thought I heard my aunt calling my name, but I couldn’t be sure. The rain was pouring so hard since last night, the voice was muffled,” he told Bernama, standing in disbelief near the scene.
He said the wooden two-storey home, along with an adjacent madrasah, collapsed under the weight of the mud and debris in a matter of seconds.
Muhammad Azri and other nearby residents rushed to the scene, desperately trying to pull survivors from the rubble, but the layers of thick, wet soil and shattered wood made any rescue attempts impossible.
Another relative, Nurmina Paraja, 41, was at work when she first learned about the incident – not through a phone call, but via social media.
“I immediately called one of the victims’ children who lives in Kuala Lumpur to confirm what had happened. He told me they still hadn’t found the bodies. I came straight here after that,” she said.
The family, she explained, had lived in the village for years and had never considered relocating. The house was close to a nearby primary school – convenient, familiar, and, until now, safe.
The landslide struck at approximately 9.15am following continuous heavy rain in the region. Authorities confirmed that seven individuals were killed, including four children. Four men survived the disaster.
The continuous heavy downpour had also caused flash floods across the state, and two other landslide incidents in Papar, which claimed two more lives, with four others still unaccounted for. — Bernama
