13 people confirmed dead in Kinabalu earthquake
Print Edition
AT least 13 people have been killed and six others are missing after the earthquake that jolted Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s highest peak, an official said yesterday.
The magnitude-6 quake struck early on Friday near the picturesque mountain, a popular tourist destination, sending landslides and huge granite boulders tumbling down from its wide, 4,095-meter-high crown.
“There are 13 (dead) bodies. Two yesterday and 11 today,” said Mohammad Farhan Lee Abdullah, police chief of the town of Ranau near the mountain.
“We’ve got six people still missing. I can’t confirm where they are from.”
Malaysian media reports have said the fatalities include members of a Singapore primary school group, including a 12-year-old girl, who were on an excursion to the mountain, as well as a local climbing guide.
“It’s very sad. The Singapore children were so happy when they arrived here, but now ...” said Masidi Manjun, tourism minister for the Malaysian state of Sabah on Borneo island.
Rescuers earlier yesterday finished escorting down to safety 137 hikers who were stuck on the mountain for up to 18 hours after the quake damaged a key trail and they faced the threat of continuing rockfalls.
Crews and officials engaged in search and rescue efforts were kept on edge, however, by aftershocks including a temblor yesterday that Malaysian officials rated a magnitude-4.5.
Reports said most people on the peak when Friday’s quake hit were Malaysian but that they also included hikers from Singapore, the United States, the Philippines, Britain, Thailand, Turkey, China and Japan.
Authorities have not provided a breakdown or given details on the number of injured.
Major quakes are rare in Malaysia and the tremor was one of the strongest in decades. But there have been no reports of major damage, or any casualties other than those on the peak.
Masidi said climbing at Kinabalu will be suspended for at least three weeks to allow for repairs to damaged trails and other facilities.
Malaysia’s Bernama news agency quoted a climber describing his terror as the quake unleashed a shower of large stones from the rocky peak.
“Rocks were raining down fast, like rock blasting,” Lee Yoke Fah, a 60-year-old Malaysian who suffered minor injuries, was quoted as saying.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
