Kuala Lumpur:The search and rescue (SAR) operation for three missing individuals after a water surge at Lata Jebus, near the Sungai Pertak waterfall in Kampung Pertak, has been broadened to the Sungai Selangor Dam, approximately three kilometers from the original site of the incident.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department's assistant director of operations, Ashrul Riezal Asbar, stated that the search efforts are concentrated along Sungai Luit, stretching from Lata Jebus towards the dam. The search area now encompasses about three kilometers along this route.
The first victim, V. Vijayan, 36, was found near the Pertak Bridge at 130 am, around 2.7 kilometers from where he was initially swept away. Four additional victims were discovered near the Senget Bridge and the suspension bridge at approximately 1012 am, about one kilometer from Lata Jebus, though their identities and nationalities have yet to be confirmed.
The incident occurred at around 530 pm the previous day, where eight individuals, including a Yemeni, a Malaysian, a Sri Lankan, a Nepalese, and four Indian nationals, were caught in the strong currents. A police truck was seen transporting the bodies of four victims from the Incident Command Post to the Sungai Buloh Hospital for post-mortem examinations.
B. Partiban, a relative of Vijayan, recounted arriving at the waterfall after Vijayan, who was there with a group of foreign friends. He described the sudden surge of water carrying logs and debris, making it impossible to do anything but watch. Partiban and three friends managed to reach safety, unaware that Vijayan had been swept away.
Muhammad, a 19-year-old Yemeni student and one of the survivors, noted that there were no signs of danger upon their arrival at the river. However, a sudden surge of water swept away three of his friends, with one still missing.
In a recent development, Selangor Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) director Datuk Wan Md Razali Wan Ismail confirmed the identities of two of the victims found this morning as Kapali, 49, from Nepal, and B. Kunjunmaiayil, 35, from India. Today's search operation involves 45 JBPM personnel, 25 from the Civil Defence Force (APM), three police officers, and five members of the Batang Kali Volunteer Fire Brigade, as well as personnel from the Hulu Selangor Land Office, Hulu Selangor Municipal Council (MPHS), and two mountain guides.