Landslide: Rescuers given moral support - JBPM DG

BATANG KALI: Firefighters of the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) are being given moral, mental and physical support to stay resilient in the grim search operation for nine victims still missing in the Batang Kali landslide tragedy since Friday.

JBPM director-general Datuk Seri Mohammad Hamdan Wahid said it is crucial to maintain the mental and physical health of JBPM personnel on duty to prevent 'burnout' and trauma.

According to him, senior officers play a role in dispensing moral support to fire-fighters at Ground Zero.

"They work according to the rotation system of duty with sufficient rest and meals.

"That's why we have facilities like rest areas, prayer rooms and PKTK (Incident Control Post) in the Red Zone and Ground Zero so that sharpness, focus, safety and health are not compromised," he told Bernama today.

Meanwhile, a Bernama survey at the location found cloudy weather and vehicles of rescue personnel shuttling in and out at the PKTK, as well as two Army excavators (more onsite) being deployed.

The landslide tragedy that struck at 2.42am last Friday at the Father's Organic Farm hillside campsite in Gohtong Jaya (Batang Kali), has so far left 24 people dead, nine victims still missing and 61 survivors out of a total of 94 people involved.

-- BERNAMA