PENAMPANG: When an explosive sound pierced the serenity of housewife Lily Dompul’s neighbourhood, the first thing that came to her mind was that she was experiencing an earthquake.
It turned out that a landslide had hit her home at Kampung Kolam Damai, Jalan Kolam Minintod here at 8.30am.
“I was (in bed and) trying to sleep when I heard the sound, followed by tremors.
“At first, I thought it was an earthquake.
“But once I realised it was a landslide (due to continuous heavy rains here), I grabbed my 2-year-old son, who was watching television, and made for the door.
“We were lucky, as five minutes later, our house was buried by soil,” said the 33-year-old when met at the location.
Lily is one of 22 individuals from six families who had to evacuate their homes which were damaged by the landslide.
District Fire and Rescue station chief Mohd Akramin Sakirun said their team was alerted to the incident at 8.37am and rushed to the location, where they assisted in transferring victims to a temporary shelter at a district community hall.
“We are continuing to monitor the village in case of (new risk of landslides),” he added.
Translated from Harian Metro