BATANG KALI: A mother is pining for news of her missing 11-year-old son, Eng Shao Qi, the only victim yet to be found in the landslide that hit a campsite near Father's Organic Farm in Gohtong Jaya, Batang Kali, recently.
SJKC Mun Choong Parent-Teacher Association (PIBG) head U Chin Ong said the mother was going through an emotional roller-coaster as she had also lost her husband and daughter in the tragedy.
The mother did not follow her family to the camping trip near Father's Organic Farm, where the landslide had wiped out her entire family, he told the New Straits Times.
Her husband, Gary Eng, was a canteen operator at SJKC Mun Choong, and her daughter and son also studied in the same school.
U said the bodies of six teachers, two pupils, Eng and a school staff member had been found. Up to press time, only Shao Qi was still missing as search-and-rescue operations entered the 8th day.
"If the boy's body is found, then the total death toll directly related to the school will be 11. However, the total number of campers was 25. It includes family members and friends of the campers directly related to the school.
"So, the total number of bodies in this group (including family members and friends) would be 18, excluding the boy who is still missing.
U said six of the 25 people linked to the school had been rescued. He also said the camping trip was not an official school event, but it was a holiday trip planned by the teachers.
"There are mourners who left flowers at the gates of the school. We do not encourage it as there will be a memorial service after the funeral of all victims related to the school were found. We will wait for the 11-year-old pupil from our school to be found first. Then we will conduct the memorial," he said.
The landslide that occurred at 2.42am on Dec 16 had claimed the lives of 30 people out of a list of 92 campers.