BATANG KALI: Police said the body of the 25th victim, a child, was found buried under 17-metre deep soil by rescuers digging at Sector C (riverside) of the search area at Father's Organic Farm in Batang Kali last night.
Hulu Selangor police chief Superintendent Suffian Abdullah said the victim was believed to be a girl, aged between six and 10.
"The child's body, in pink pajamas, was found buried under 17-metre deep soil. There was no major injuries on the body.
"We also discovered four bags with some clothes in it and a laptop but no identification was found."
Suffian said the child's body has been sent to Sungai Buloh Hospital for post mortem.
Selangor Fire and Rescue Department Operations Division assistant director Hafisham Mohd Noor said rescuers did not anticipated that the body would be located so deep underground.
"Initially, we dug up the site for about 12 metres. However, the body was actually located 5 metres deeper.
"The child's body was found near a boulder the size of an excavator," he said.
Hafisham said as the search-and-rescue operation entered its sixth day today, a total of 106 personnel are being deployed to locate the remaining eight missing victims.
Suffian said four K9 tracker dogs and 11 excavators will be utilised for the operation.
He said today's manpower was smaller than before due to unfavorable soil conditions.
"We had to halt the operation earlier as water started to pour out from the soil when we excavate passed the 16-metre deep mark.
"So, we will need to control the number of people at the site to ensure safety of everyone involved.
"We will sound the siren to warn the SAR team to evacuate the area should there be any arising issues.
"Hopefully today will be the last day of the operation if we found all the remaining victims." he said.