Orphans buried by Malaysian landslide

A landslide has buried 20 children and four adults at a Malaysian orphanage.

Scores of rescuers have been digging with their hands in rain-softened soil to find the missing people, according to police.

The bodies of five boys, aged 8-17, have been found so far.

Six boys and a 30-year-old warden were pulled from the mud alive and rushed to a hospital with serious injuries, district police chief Abdul Rashid Wahab said.

The search continues for another nine children and three orphanage workers.

Heavy rain had likely caused the landslide which hit the orphanage in a quiet village in Selangor state, he said.

Rain was still falling in the evening but the rescue work by around 200 firefighters, police and others continued despite the poor conditions.

Mr Wahab said: “They just had lunch at the tent by the side of the house when two landslides apparently occurred at the same time. The tent collapsed, burying 24 people as they did not have time to escape.

“Rescuers have to dig using their hands and other equipment because the surrounding soil is very soft due to the rain.”

The orphanage, a huge three-story house at a foothill, was not damaged structurally but was partly covered in sludge.

Several large trees were carried away in the landslide.

Many houses near the orphanage have been told to evacuate in case of further landslides, the police chief said.

Mohamad Hambali Ismail, a warden at the orphanage, told local media that the children were preparing to receive visitors when the earth shook.

In an interview with the Malay-language Berita Harian newspaper, the 34 year old said: “I heard a loud noise. Suddenly the earth was chasing me. I had to run to save myself.”