KUALA LUMPUR: "I thought there was an earthquake because I felt everything swaying. I didn't expect it was actually a landslide behind the house."
This was shared by Azmi Badarudin, 55, a resident in Taman Bunga Raya, Setapak here, who was affected by a landslide in the afternoon yesterday.
During the incident, he said he was alone at home and was in a front room tidying up things while it was raining.
"While I was sitting on the bed, suddenly I felt the bed swaying. I thought there was an earthquake in a neighbouring country.
"Before that, I heard a loud noise, but I thought it was the sound of thunder," he said when met at his house today.
Azmi, who is a trader, said he only realised a landslide occurred about 20 minutes later when he received a phone call from his wife, who was out working.
"I heard a commotion in front of the house and voices shouting for us to immediately get out of our houses.
"Only then did I realise there was a landslide, and that's when I started to panic," said Azmi, who was born and raised in the housing estate since the 1970s.
For now, he said, all residents in the affected homes, including his family have been ordered to relocate temporarily for safety reasons.
Another resident, Aminah Abd Jalil, 60, said during the 5.30pm, she was praying in a room of her house before being startled by her daughter's screams.
The retiree and her daughter, Anis Mohammad, 28, were the only ones at home at the time.
"My daughter was in the back room and told me she heard a very loud noise like thunder but even louder. It was a rumbling sound, she told me.
"When we looked out the window, we saw part of the land behind the house, along with the fence and bamboo trees planted there had collapsed," she said.
Aminah said she was grateful there were no casualties as the collapsed wall covered the road area below.
"For now, my husband, daughter, son-in-law, and two-year-old granddaughter are temporarily staying at a nearby hotel," she said.
Meanwhile, a survey by Berita Harian at the location today found that cleaning work was ongoing at a location along Jalan Genting Klang heading towards the Middle Ring after part of a wall on the hillside collapsed yesterday afternoon.
Two lanes on the road, stretching approximately 100m, were temporarily closed to vehicles to allow for cleaning work to be carried out.
Wangsa Maju district police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohammad Lazim Ismail when met at the scene, said the first step taken after the incident was to order all affected residents to leave their homes.
"A total of 17 terrace houses were involved in the evacuation order, 13 houses on Lorong Malinja 5 and four on Lorong Malinja 6, involving 52 residents.
"There were no casualties, and for now, the slopes on the left and right of the main landslide area have been covered with canvas to prevent rain from getting in.
"We are concerned that if it rains again, it will affect the nearby area and cause further landslides," he said.
For now, he said, relevant departments including the Fire and Rescue department and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) are conducting further inspections at the site to determine the status of the land and the landslide.