KUALA LUMPUR: Last night was the scariest in David Mitchell's life. The 53-year-old was resting in his living room when he heard rumbling noises outside his house.
"Suddenly the lights went out and I heard a thunderous crash on my house. A whole mass of land had crashed into my living room," he told the New Straits Times.
The incident left David's home devastated since his unit was located at the lower floor of the three-storey apartment in Persiaran Syed Putra here.
Due to the heavy downpour on Thursday, the earth embankment near the building collapsed and the land mass crashed onto the building.
"I'm really thankful to God that my wife and my one-year-old son are safe. But we are still emotionally traumatised by the incident.
"I have been staying here for almost twenty years. Losing my home overnight is not something that I had ever imagined," he said.
However, David said the warning bells for last night's tragedy started ringing almost a decade ago.
"Few years ago, we experienced a minor soil erosion and some land mass tumbled over from the hilly area above and damaged our parking lot area.
"Perhaps it was the early warning for the tragedy that occurred yesterday," he said.
Raymond, 44, said he rushed back home when his wife told him about the tragedy that had hit his home.
"When I came back, the Fire and Rescue Department personnel arrived at the scene and after 15 minutes of inspection, they advised us to vacate the building because it was no longer safe to stay.
"This morning, the City Hall (DBKL) also sent a team of experts to assess the area and put in place some counter measures.
"But until now, they have not given us the green-light to back to our homes," he said.
Raymond said warning signs kept recurring that a nearby project at the hilly area above their apartment was a ticking time bomb.
"In 2017, a tree from the same slope fell on our building, and brought along piles of land on to our residential area.
"In fact, after heavy rains, the car park is always filled with mud and sediments as the rainwater erodes the soil from the hill slope," he said.
Raymond also said that the residents always alerted both the project management nearby and the relevant authorities each time a mishap occurred at their apartment site.
"In 2017, the residents wrote a letter to the project management and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) when the trees fell on our apartment.
"And yet, the recent tragedy reflected that nothing had improved," he said.
Like the other affected residents, Raymond's family is also forced to endure both financial and emotional setbacks.
"I had nowhere to go when I was asked to vacate immediately. So my family and I had to check-in at a hotel, which is expensive.
"Furthermore, my daughter will be taking her O-level exams this month. So this incident will definitely affect her classes and revisions," he said.
He hoped that the relevant authorities will investigate this matter thoroughly so that he and the other affected residents will not have to go through this harrowing ordeal again.