Hulu Langat landslide: victims mentally scarred, but recovering well

Hulu Langat landslide: victims mentally scarred, but recovering well

Injured victims of the landslide in Hulu Langat on the mend, but are emotionally scarred.

KUALA LUMPUR – Muhd Aizat Qusyhairiry Abdul Karim, 13,will never forget the experience of being buried for two hours under the rubble of Saturday’s deadly landslide in Hulu Langat, Selangor.

“I was petrified. I heard my friends calling out my name but I simplycouldn’t answer them,” he said, when recalling what he went through during the landslide that hit the Hidayah Al-Taqwa orphanage, which killed 16 people and injured nine others.  But Muhd Aizat, who fractured his left arm in the incident, was all smileswhen met at the Ampang Hospital today during which he talked about his footballidol.

“I admire (Mohd) Khairul Fahmi. He’s so handsome and he’s a good goalkeeper to boot. I would like him to teach me how to play football,” he told Bernama,glancing at the cast on his arm.  Muhammad Alaudeen Safree, 14, who looked happy to receive his friends from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Pandan Mewah, said he could not wait to go home and resume schooling.  However, he said that he still could not get over the loss of his brother Mohd Hazim, 10, who was killed in the tragedy.

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Meanwhile, his mother Mazlina Abu Samah, 44, expressed hope that a new facility would be built in a safer area.  All the nine injured were on the mend. One of the victims was transferred tothe normal ward at 2pm yesterday after being treated at the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Two remain under intensive care.

Md Irwan Zakaria, 32, who had his right leg amputated, had regained consciousness but was still in a weakened state, according to his sister Fatimah Zakaria.  Muhammad Akmal Mohd Jefry, 11, the first victim pulled out of the rubble with minor injuries, was back at the hospital to visit his friends yesterday.

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“I feel that I need to give them some encouragement in hopes that they’ll recover quickly. Doctors have asked me to rest as I still feel numbness in myright leg,” he added.