KOTA KINABALU: Rescue workers involved in the Kampung Alintang mudslide operations in central Tongod, some 300km from here, are now conducting their search for victims along the rivers of Pinangah.

Sabah Fire and Rescue Department assistant director (operations) Khairul Azuwan Ibrahim said it is now believed that the three missing victims may have been swept away in a river and not buried in the mudslide.

He said this was because the five victims recovered on Tuesday were all found in the rivers.

All eight, members of a family of 11, were washed away when the mudslide hit their workers’ quarters at about 1am on April 1.

The only survivors in the family so far are a plantation worker known as Abdul and his wife Jalikha Malingkut, both in their 50s, and their 18-year-old son. They have been hospitalised.

Among the dead and missing are the couple’s five other children and three grandchildren.

Rescuers initially had to walk about 7km into the affected area from the main road to conduct search and rescue operations.

They are now using boats to locate the remaining three victims.-thestar