Mudslide eyewitness: 'I saw water gushing, cars were almost adrift'

They honestly didn’t know what to do, where to turn, literally, seeing that they had been stuck there for hours.

Farah Iziati, who was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Raub, Pahang, was among the many travellers stuck on the Kuala Lumpur-Karak (KLK) highway when a mudslide occurred on KM52.4 following the prolonged downpour earlier today.

"I saw water gushing across the highway and several vehicles were stuck on the road. I saw the authorities trying to pull out a lorry and several cars from the water, to avoid them from going adrift," she told Astro AWANI when contacted around 10pm tonight.

Farah, who was travelling via express bus, said people around her were getting restless, having been stuck for hours.

"People were hungry, whatever food we had on the bus was very minimal. One elderly man was suffering breathing problems. We were all so worried but wasn't quite sure what to do," she said.

The mudslide occurred around 7pm on the KLK and caused traffic to come to a standstill.

Roads were closed to traffic in both directions and motorists from KL had to turn around and use alternatives routes in Bukit Tinggi or via the Lentang rest area while those from Kuantan had to use the back road from Bentong Timur.

It was reported that the Pahang Fire and Rescue Department managed to unearth four vehicles trapped under the mudslide and rescued the eight passengers who were stuck in the vehicles.

Road cleanup works, which began around 8pm, are currently ongoing at Press time.