450 people stranded along KL-Karak Highway rescued

KUANTAN: About 450 drivers and passengers of vehicles stranded on the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway due to landslides and floods yesterday were rescued in stages, beginning early today.

A spokesperson for ANIH Berhad said that the tow truck service will be used today to remove the vehicles stranded at the location.

According to her, the all-day operation that started at around 7 am, was conducted only after the location could be accessed by the concession company's staff.

She said all of them had been stationed at several locations on the highway to render relevant assistance, such as distributing food and beverages to the victims.

As of 10 pm last night, KM76-KM126 of the Karak-Temerloh route is still closed in both directions.

Meanwhile, Pengurusan Air Pahang Berhad (PAIP) chief executive officer Saiful Zaini Mohd Bokhari said a total of 13 Water Treatment Plants (LRA) involving the districts of Kuantan, Temerloh, Bentong, Lipis and Raub could not operate due to the floods.

He said following the shutdown of the LRAs, a total of 53,916 user accounts experienced water supply disruptions.

"The closure started yesterday with four LRAs, however, it has increased to 13 LRAs due to rising river water levels as well as power outages from Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).

"Assistance in the delivery of clean water supply and static tanks has also been mobilised to the affected relief centres, but there are still many areas that are flooded, causing difficulty in delivering the treated water supply via tanker trucks," he said in a statement last night.

-- BERNAMA