Close shave for senior citizen who escaped mud flood in Ringlet

Currents strong enough to break the door of his house had initially posed a serious doubt for a senior citizen when he was trapped in a mud flood here, Wednesday.

The victim, Leong Tee Chang, 65, from Kampung Baru, Ringlet, was initially doubtful if he would survive the mud flood, here.

Narrating his anxious moments, Leong said what crossed his mind during that time was to save his wife and grandchild.

"They can't swim. I was forced to be submerged for several minutes to carry my wife to safety," he said when met by Bernama, here, on Thursday adding that he could not salvage anything from the house except for the wallet in his pocket.

K. Khumaresan, 40, also from Kampung Baru, Ringlet also shared his anxious moments when he had to desperately cling to a cross bar of his house for 30 minutes to avoid being swept away by flood waters.

"I heard the noise of something collapsing but before I could react, the wall of my house toppled, but I am thankful all the members of my family managed to save themselves," he said, adding his son was slightly hurt when a cupboard fell on him.

He said his family lost about RM20,000 due to the floods.

Another victim, civil servant Jamil Abdullah, 45, said it was the second time flood inundated his house as he was also affected by the flash flood in the Bertam Valley last year.

Following the incident, he was given a new house in Kampung Baru, Ringlet which also suffered the same fate.

"Mud filled my house up to the knee level. All my electrical appliances were damaged," he said.

In the mud flood and landslide incidents in the Bertam Valley and Ringlet areas, here at 6.30pm yesterday, three, including a 13-year-old teenager were killed while five others were hurt.

Last year, Ringlet Lake in the Bertam Valley here overflowed resulting in a mud flood which killed four people and damaged more than 100 homes.