Sungai Pertak water surge leaves 5 dead and 3 missing

A Sungai Pertak water surge in Kuala Kubu Bharu has left five people dead and three missing. Eight people were swept away on Monday evening in Hulu Selangor. Rescuers have since recovered five bodies, Bernama reported. The incident comes as floods keep hitting Selangor.

The search is led by the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department. Assistant director of operations Ashrul Riezal Asbar briefed reporters at the command post on Tuesday. Search teams resumed work at 7am. Moreover, the department opened a control post to monitor water conditions.

Overall, here is what happened, how the search is run and what is still unknown. This is a developing story, so the toll may change.

What happened on Monday

The surge struck the river near Lata Jebus. In total, eight people were swept away. Reports say the groups were hikers and picnickers who had gone to the river. Lata Jebus is in Kuala Kubu Bharu, in the Hulu Selangor district.

Other groups were stranded across the river at the same time. Between 19 and 26 people were rescued, depending on the report. Most were brought out in the early hours of Tuesday. Furthermore, the rescued groups had been stranded in several places along the river.

A distress call reached the fire department on Monday evening. Crews arrived at about 6.30pm, according to one report. However, strong currents stopped surface searches for three to four hours.

Reports say seven of the eight were foreigners from Yemen, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. One was Malaysian. Meanwhile, the authorities have not released the victims’ names or ages.

How the search is run

The first body was found at about 1.30am near Pertak Bridge. That is roughly 2.7km downstream of Lata Jebus. Ashrul said it was handed to the police for identification.

Later, four more bodies were found near Senget Bridge on Tuesday morning. The identities of the four have not been established. As a result, the toll rose from one to five.

The search is split into four sectors. Two cover about 2km of river from Lata Jebus. In addition, the other two cover the area under the bridge and around the dam.

Rescuers are still working in strong currents, which slow every search. Rain was forecast for Tuesday afternoon under the northeast monsoon. Therefore, anyone planning a river trip should check the weather and avoid rivers after heavy rain.

What is still unknown

So far, no official cause has been given. Reports call the event a water surge or a flash flood. However, none says whether heavy rain upstream or a dam release was behind it.

The department has not said how many children were among the eight, if any. It has also not said when the search for the three missing will end. Likewise, the nationalities of the four later victims are not known.

Police are handling identification of the dead. Likewise, the final toll from the fire department is still to come. We will update this story when the department confirms new figures.

In short, the Sungai Pertak water surge has left five dead and three missing. Search teams are still working along the river and around the dam.

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