CAMERON HIGHLANDS — The body of a second victim in Friday's (Jan 26) landslide at Batu 59, Kampung Raja in Malaysia's Cameron Highlands has been found.

District police chief Deputy Superintendent Azri Ramli said that the male victim was found at 12.05pm about 10m from the original site of a squatter house for workers at a vegetable farm in the area.

Mr Azri said that the search and rescue team faced challenges as the area also experienced several more landslides along the narrow road that connects the Firemen Control Centre with the scene of the incident.

"Based on the inspection, we found that (the road) to the scene has been cut off and requires a four-wheel drive vehicle to reach.

"But (now) even coming in a four-wheel drive is not possible because there have been several landslides that occurred on the way to get to the scene," he said.

In the incident at 2.51am, one man was initially confirmed dead, with four others feared to have been buried alive.

The Cameron Highlands District Disaster Management Committee confirmed that all five victims are Myanmar nationals aged between 25 and 56.

The first victim who was found at 3am on Friday has been identified as Haphey, 36.

Meanwhile, a Cameron Highlands Fire and Rescue Department spokesperson said that the search and rescue operation is continuing to find the remaining three victims buried under the landslide.

"The search operation is divided into four sectors namely Sector A, Sector B, Sector C and Sector D.

"The search radius is measured 40 by 80m which includes the first two sectors which are sectors B and C.

"The estimated slope at the location of the incident is between 35 and 45 degrees," he said in a statement today.

He added that the search and rescue team had found the second male victim in sector B, about 1m from where the first body was found.

"The second body was found at a depth of four feet (1.2m) and an operation is still ongoing to retrieve the victim.

"A total of 53 firemen were involved in the operation including 19 from the Fire and Rescue's Special Tactical Operation Rescue Malaysia and four firemen with two dogs from the K9 Unit," he said.

He added that the operation was also joined by two officers from the Minerals and Geoscience Department, six Rela (People's Volunteer Corps) members, two Cameron Highlands district and land officers, three Tenaga Nasional  staff and 13 officers from the Malaysian Civil Defence Force," he added. NEW STRAITS TIMES