Landslide at Malaysian hillside kills 4 people

A massive landslide at a hillside estate in Malaysia's largest city killed four people early Saturday and left at least 15 others injured, police said. Thousands of residents were expected to be evacuated from Bukit Antarabangsa on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur after the landslide cut off access to housing areas just before dawn, a district police spokesman said.

Television footage showed several houses destroyed by an avalanche of earth and boulders. Police have cordoned off the disaster area. So far, we have recovered four bodies, and 15 people are injured as the landslide buried some houses. We don't know the cause of the landslide yet, said the spokesman, who declined to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

At least 160 police, army and medical personnel have been deployed to the scene for search-and-rescue operations, he said. No further details were immediately available. Malaysia's Star newspaper said on its Web site that the dead included a 30-year-old mother, her 2-month-old baby and her maid. It said 93 people have been rescued while seven others were still reported missing.

Selangor state police chief Khalid Abu Bakar was quoted as saying that up to 5,000 residents would be evacuated because the area was still unstable. Some residents believed the landslide was triggered by heavy rain over the past few days, national Bernama news agency said.

Several landslides have caused damage in and around Kuala Lumpur in recent years. They are usually blamed on rapid development, deforestation and poor maintenance of drainage systems.

In 1993, 48 people were killed when a 12-story condominium block in Bukit Antarabangsa collapsed after a mudslide.

_{©JThe Jakarta Post}