by P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
Rescue teams on Malaysia’s Mount Kinabalu have recovered what appear to be the remains of five more earthquake victims, bringing the confirmed death toll to 16 with two others missing and presumed dead.
Masidi Manjun, tourism minister of eastern Sabah state, told a press conference Sunday that three bodies had been exhumed and identified but the process of identifying the other two suspected victims would be difficult as only body parts had been found.
"So we also really don't know whether the parts that have been retrieved are of new bodies,” he said. “That is why for the time being, we list the two as still missing because we have not been able to make a positive identification of them due to the condition of the bodies."
A list released earlier had named 19 killed or missing victims, including seven Malaysians, nine Singaporeans, and one national from the Philippines, Japan and China each.
However, one of the Malaysians on the list – whose name has not been released – survived the incident.
The two missing victims who are presumed dead include a student and a teacher from Singapore.
Manjun said search and rescue operations would be progressively scaled down, but would continue until all casualties have been accounted for.
A 6.0-magnitude earthquake shook Mount Kinabalu – one of Southeast Asia's highest peaks – Friday morning.
Earlier Sunday, Sabah’s fire and rescue department chief Nordin Pauzi had expressed hopes of recovering all the victims by the evening.
Rescuers have said that efforts to find and recover victims have been hindered by boulders that slid down the mountain’s slope, covering the ground and blocking trails.
“Some of the bodies are buried deep under the rubble,” an unnamed search and rescue team member told The Star Online. “We can see parts of the crushed victims.”
A group of students and teachers from a Singapore primary school had been visiting Kinabalu when it was shaken by the tremor, sending rocks crashing down the slope and causing boulders to snap climbing ropes.
Some of the students were reportedly strapped to harnesses on the Via Ferrata trek -- meaning Iron Road – when disaster struck.
Six children from the Tanjong Katong Primary School have been identified as among the killed or missing. Another 12-year-old student with severe injuries is receiving treatment at the Gleneagles Medical center in Kota Kinabalu.
At least 69 people were injured in the earthquake, with 37 admitted to six hospitals for fractures and wounds, theMalaysian Insider reported.
Meanwhile, the Philippines’ department of foreign affairs released a statement Sunday confirming that the Filipino-Singaporean girl on the list of victims had lost her life.
The Philippine Embassy had been informed that Karyl Mitzi Higuit Matahom, 12, had been part of the school group on an educational tour of the area. Philippine Vice Consul Francis Herrera has been dispatched to Sabah to coordinate with Singaporean authorities.
Mount Kinabalu reportedly sustained cracks to its surface following the tremor, which damaged the peak’s famed “Donkey’s Ears” rock formation.
The U.S Geological Survey said the quake happened around 7.15 a.m. (0015GMT) Friday, at a depth of 10 meters, its epicenter just 54 kilometers from the mountain on Borneo island.
* Anadolu Agency correspondent Roy Ramos contributed to this report from the Philippines
