Quarry incident: Work to remove boulders temporarily halted

IPOH: Work to remove big boulders to identify the exact positions of two victims buried under the rubble of a quarry rockfall in Keramat Pulai, Jalan Simpang Pulai-Cameron Highlands, have been temporarily put on hold.

A Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) spokesman said the work was stopped at 10.35 am today following small rocks falling in the area.

"The rescue team is still in the scope of observation and safety of the workers involved in rock removal work carried out by the quarry company.

"The distance to the exact positions where the two victims are buried is about 20 metres," he said in a statement.

He said the search and rescue operation which entered its seventh day, began at 8.30 am with personnel from JBPM, Special Tactical Operation and Rescue Malaysia (STORM), Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) as well as the Department of Mineral and Geoscience Malaysia (JMG).

In the 9.15 am incident on Tuesday (March 8), two victims, Kheow Loo Siew Soon, 49, and Itam Lasoh, 43 were buried alive while two other victims, Mohd Razli Suhaimi, 35, suffered a broken leg, and Pan Tam, 38, sustained light injuries.

-- BERNAMA