BY: Michelle Liew
A loud siren sounded a warning to the local community to flee to a safer place, reducing the number of in the landslide incident at Taman Bukit Permai 2, Ampang this week.
A banking sector worker, Natasha Alya Saifudin, 26, said she could not believe that the housing area, which had been inhabited for 20 years, was involved in the landslide for the first time at about 5pm two days ago.
“The sound of the siren was really loud. Suddenly there was a double bang of strong landslides during the drizzle.
“In a state of panic and chaos, I continued to run out of the house to see what was happening and by that time the ground was declining,” she said.
Recounting the anxious moment, Natasha Alya who was then alone at home because of the work-from-home policy, proceeded to call her father who served as an e-hailing car driver to urge him to return home immediately.
She said the incident, which happened in the blink of an eye without any sign, was very shocking to the locals because before this, the housing area had never been affected by natural disasters or floods.
Another resident, Tong Kwan Chew, 53, said he only became aware of the incident after hearing a loud siren sound from the white house numbered ’50’, opposite his house.
“I was really surprised because I had never heard a sound (siren) like that before. When I got out, the road in front of the house was covered in mud.
“I continued to take my wife and three children to a safe place and changed the position of the three cars to the adjacent park area,” he said, who had to spend the night at a hotel with family members due to compliance with the authorities’ instructions as a precautionary measure and safety factor.
Kwan Chew said he was thankful that the landslide did not endanger the safety of his family. The landslide occurred for the first time since his inhabitancy for 23 years.
Meanwhile, a woman who declined to be identified was in her 50s and had lived for 20 years in the area also managed to be safe from the disaster.
“During the incident, many (residents) were not at home because they were still working. As soon as I heard the siren, I went out of the house to see the situation around,” she said.
She said at that time, the landslide had spread to the bottom and the road to his house was covered with mud.
The landslide incident at Taman Bukit Permai 2, Ampang claimed four lives, while one person was slightly injured. Furthermore, 15 houses and 10 vehicles were affected.
