Shocked folks rush to save themselves

Shocked folks rush to save themselves

Junaidi: 'I was in a state of shock'
The couple and their four children live on the third floor of Block B and upon peering out of the window, they were shocked to see big clumps of earth sliding towards the block in the wee hours of the morning yesterday.

“We realised it was a landslide and the earth was pushing the cars that were parked downstairs against each other,” Normah said, adding that the sound that had roused her from her sleep was that of cars banging into each other.


Normah: Was awakened by loud crashing sounds
While Normah, 46, got her family together, Junaidi, 47, went to save his Gen-2, which was parked slightly away from the building.

“I was in a state of shock and could not even remember how to engage the automatic gear to reverse my car.

“I was very lucky as the moment I moved my car, more earth came tumbling down and the cars next to mine were buried un-der tonnes of earth,” he said.

Their daughter, Nu-rul Ain Junaidi, 20, meanwhile, called the police and Fire and Rescue Services De-partment and in a matter of minutes, help arrived.

Junaidi said for months, residents had noticed that a part of the ground nearby the drains at Block B was constantly water logged.

“It was as if there was water flowing from the slope and we informed Putrajaya Holdings (PJH) about it.

“All the contractors did to solve the problem was to divert the water flow into the drains,” he said.

Junaidi and his family were among 1,200 residents who were temporarily placed at the Precinct 9 Residential Complex Hall following the evacuation order.

At the hall, Rosmahani Mat Yaacob, 27, was seen going about taking care of her son, still dressed in her pyjamas.

Cradling the infant Irfan Fahim, who was bawling for his milk, the civil servant said she had no time to change as residents sounded the alarm following the landslide by pounding on her grill.

“My son was very restless throughout the night and I only managed to sleep at 3am.


Life goes on: Some of the landslide victims having breakfast by the roadside after being evacuated from their homes.
“So I was fast asleep and unaware of the landslide until I heard people shouting and banging the grilles.

“I grabbed my son and left the apartment quickly while my husband rushed downstairs to save his car,'' she said.

But Mohamad Haidhir Hamzah, 32, wasn't so lucky.

His year-old Naza Citra MPV was among the 23 cars destroyed in the landslide.

He has little hope for compensation because landslides are natural disasters and not covered by insurance.

Still, the civil servant is grateful for the chance to escape safely with his wife Jehan Abdullah, 30 and their two-year-old daughter.