History Of Landslides In Hulu Klang
Hulu Klang, the place where the latest landslide occurred in Taman Bukit Utama and Taman Bukit Mewah in Bukit Antarabangsa Saturday (6 Dec), is actually an area that is prone to landslides.On 11 Dec 1993, 48 people were killed when one of the three condominium blocks of Highland Towers in Taman Hillview, located 1.5km away from Saturday's landslide scene, collapsed.
The tragedy shocked the whole nation as it was the first in its history since the independence.
The collapse of the building after three days of heavy downpours had created public awareness on the safety of buildings built on hillslopes.
Apart from the Highland Towers, other landslide-related incidents which had occurred in the Hulu Klang area are as follows:
10 Dec 1985: Two new unoccupied double-storey houses in Taman Melawati, collapsed at 8.50am during heavy downpours.
17 Sept 1998: One house was destroyed in Gombak due to soil erosion.
29 March 1990: A landslide occurred in Taman Setia Wangsa, affecting 80 families in two flats.
25 Dec 1997: Three people were buried alive in a landslide in Km 17 of the Ampang-Hulu Kelang Expressway.
15 May 1999: Thousands of residents in Bukit Antarabangsa and Wangsa Ukay in Jalan Hulu Klang were trapped when a 100-metre long landslide occurred at 5.20am and cut off the only access road to the hilly residential area.
24 Feb 2000: A four-year-old child was killed in a landslide in Kampung Sri Damai, near Taman Kencana, Ampang.
5 Oct 2000: A landslide occurred in Jalan Bukit Antarabangsa during heavy downpours but no casualty was reported.
20 Nov 2002: A landslide at 4.30am flattened the double-storey bungalow of Affin Bank Bhd chairman Gen (Rtd)Tan Sri Ismail Omar.
His wife, Puan Sri Azizah Abdul Aziz, his son Hijaz, two in-laws, two grandchildren and two Indonesian maids, perished in the 4.35am incident.
The bungalow was located 300m away from the Highland Towers.
31 May 2006: Four people including two children were killed when they were buried alive in a landslide that flattened three blocks of longhouses at Kampung Pasir during a heavy downpours at 4.45pm. (Bernama)
