Landslide kills 5 Bangladeshis in Malaysia

At least five of the nine people killed in Friday's landslide in Penang are Bangladeshis, Malaysia's state news agency Bernama reported yesterday.

They were identified as Mohammad Uzzal, Nur Alam, Mustak Hossain, Mithu Hossain and one Attirul. The details of the victims could not be known.

The other victims included three Indonesian men and a Myanmar woman.

Penang Fire and Rescue Department Deputy Director Mohamad Shoki Hamzah said the body of the ninth victim -- 33-year-old Bangladeshi man Mohamad Uzzal -- was found buried under five metres of earth near a container yesterday.

"The last container found was badly crushed and we don't rule out the possibility of finding several more bodies in the area around the container,” he said.

Fair weather conditions yesterday enabled the search and rescue team to carry out its operations. The team was digging as deep as five metres to find other victims, he added.

The landslide happened at a construction site at Jalan Bukit Kukus in the town of Paya Terubong, Penang. A road was being built there.

Meanwhile, civil society group Persatuan Aliran Kesedaran Negara (Aliran) yesterday called for an immediate stop to all hillslope development projects in Penang following the landslide.

"All plans that involve construction or development on hillslopes must be reviewed for workers' safety …" Aliran said in a statement.

The NGO said it was appalled at the loss of lives in the tragic incident.

While it is unclear what exactly happened at Bukit Kukus, the recent landslide does raise several issues.

"One is the vulnerability of construction workers who were, in this incident, migrant workers from Myanmar, Indonesia and Bangladesh," the group said.

"It highlighted the issue of their safety, especially as a stop work order in the site had been recently issued when 14 concrete beams came tumbling down.

"We cannot help but ask for site safety regulations to ensure the safety of the workers. What were the safety measures being taken in Bukit Kukus? Could the deaths of these victims have been avoided?" the statement said, reports online news portal Malaysiakini.