Malaysia Says Landslide that Killed 31 People Last Year Was Caused by Heavy Rain, Not Human Activity

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A landslide that killed 31 people, including 13 children, at an unlicensed Malaysian campground last year was caused by persistent heavy rain, not human activity, a government investigation concluded.

Ninety-two people were sleeping at a campsite on an organic farm when soil and debris crashed down from a road about 30 meters (100 feet) above and covered about 1 hectare (3 acres) of the site in Batang Kali in central Selangor state.

Most of the campers were families enjoying a year-end vacation and 13 of the 31 dead were children. The youngest was a year old. Rescuers found the bodies of a mother and her toddler daughter locked in an embrace, and a man buried under the landslide was uncovered still clutching his dog. Eleven of the victims were teachers, students and staff from a single school.

“The landslide was principally caused by natural failure, potentially influenced by rainfall and geological factors,” according to the report, which was declassified early this month and made public Wednesday. Families of the victims requested that the government make the report public.

Rain had fallen for five straight days before the Dec. 16 landslide, amounting to 118.6 millimeters (4.7 inches), Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said in a statement Tuesday. The cumulative rainfall for the preceding 30 days was 444.8 millimeters (17.5 inches), he said.

“This heavy rain caused slope failures, which buried the camp sites … under soil, causing damage to property and loss of life,” he said. “The investigation found no strong evidence of anthropogenic activity as a contributing factor to this landslide.”

Anthropogenic refers to environmental change due to human activity. Environmentalists have questioned whether development in the hilly area caused the landslide. The operator had a license for the farm but no permit to run a campground. No one has been charged so far in the incident.

The report said two landslides occurred 20 minutes apart. It said an investigation showed that slope and road maintenance were carried out according to schedule. “Without substantial evidence linking human activities to the landslide, it is reasonable to consider it as primarily a result of natural failure,” it said. The report proposed measures to prevent a repeat of the tragedy, including the development of a slope hazard and risk map for state roads.