Rescuers had found five bodies by late Tuesday morning (Nov 10) after a sudden water surge swept eight people away at Sungai Pertak in Kuala Kubu Bharu, Hulu Selangor, on Monday evening (Nov 9), and the search was continuing for the other three.
The first body, that of a 36-year-old Malaysian man, was found near Jambatan Pertak at about 1.30am on Tuesday, around 2.7 kilometres from where he was swept away. His body was handed to the police for identification at the forensic unit.
Four more bodies were found later on Tuesday morning near Jambatan Senget, close to the Sungai Luit campsite and roughly a kilometre from the spot where the victims were swept away. The first three were found at about 9.20am and the fourth about an hour later. Their identities and nationalities had not yet been confirmed, a Selangor Fire and Rescue Department official told reporters at the incident command post.
The eight people swept away were one Malaysian, one Yemeni, one Sri Lankan, one Nepalese and four Indian nationals, according to the department. Another 26 people from hiking and recreational groups who had been stranded near the river were brought to safety.
The search resumed at 7am on Tuesday, with teams spread across four sectors. Two of the sectors cover an area stretching about two kilometres from where the victims were swept away, while the other two focus on the area beneath the bridge and around the dam.
The official said strong currents were hampering the operation, and rescuers had to wait three to four hours for the water to recede before they could carry out surface searches. Time was also a constraint, he said, as rain was expected in the afternoon because of the northeast monsoon, and teams planned to keep searching until about 1pm.
Firefighters have been searching for the eight since Monday night, after the department received a distress call at about 5.55pm and sent a team from the Kuala Kubu Bharu fire station. Sungai Pertak and the waterfalls around it are popular with hikers, campers and day-trippers.
A water surge, known locally as kepala air, can strike with little warning when heavy rain upstream sends a sudden rush of water down a river. The search and rescue operation comes as the monsoon season sets in, with the Health Ministry readying 85 medical teams in case of floods.