Landslide at Malaysia campground leaves 9 dead, 25 missing
Kuala Lumpur (AP): A landslide on Friday at a tourist campground in Malaysia left nine people dead and authorities said 25 people were feared buried at the site on an organic farm outside the capital of Kuala Lumpur.
An estimated 94 Malaysians were believed to have been at the campsite in Batang Kali in central Selangor state, around 50 kilometres (31 miles) north of Kuala Lumpur, when the incident occurred, said district police chief Suffian Abdullah.
They had entered the area, a popular recreational site for locals to pitch or rent tents from the farm, on Wednesday.
A five-year-old boy was among the dead, Suffian told a televised news conference. Suffian said seven people have been hospitalised with injuries and rescuers were searching for the estimated 25 missing people.
Another 53 people were rescued without harm. Around 400 personnel were involved in the search and rescue efforts.
The Selangor fire department said firefighters began arriving at the scene half an hour after receiving a distress call at 2.24 am.
The landslide fell from the side of a road from an estimated height of 30 metres (98 feet) and covered an area of about three acres (1.2 hectare), it said.
It posted pictures of rescuers with flashlights digging through soil and rubble in the early hours of the morning.
Bernama news agency posted a video of some families with young children who were rescued taking refuge at a nearby police station.
The campsite is located on an organic farm not far from the Genting Highlands hill resort, a popular tourist destination with theme parks and Malaysia's only casino. Access to roads leading to the area have been blocked.
Malaysia has been experiencing year-end monsoon rains, but it wasn't clear if it was raining before the landslide. (AP)
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Woman arrested for cheating, robbing wealthy men after luring them in Karnataka's Belagavi
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Belagavi Police have arrested a woman who allegedly lured wealthy men and robbed them, officials said on Thursday.
The accused has been identified as Deepa Avatagi (33), a native of Mahalingpur in Bagalkot district. She claimed to be a fashion designer, they said.
Her associate, Shivanand Mathapati, a resident of Hukkeri taluk in Belagavi district, is currently absconding.
Police said Mathapati allegedly supplied information about affluent individuals to the accused.
According to investigators, Deepa befriended wealthy men through social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. After establishing contact, she allegedly engaged them in obscene chats and later invited them to meet her at a lodge in Belagavi city.
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Once the victim arrived at the lodge, she would ask him to take a shower.
While the man was inside the bathroom, she would allegedly lock the door from outside and flee with his mobile phone, cash and car keys, Belagavi Police Commissioner Bhushan Gulabrao Borase said.
Police said some of the incidents were captured on the lodge's CCTV cameras. The accused would later call the victim from another phone number and allegedly demand money, threatening to lodge a police complaint if the victim refused to pay.
A case has been registered at the Tilakwadi Police Station in Belagavi. A police team led by Inspector Parashuram Poojari arrested the accused during the investigation.
Police have seized property worth approximately Rs 32.86 lakh from the accused. The seized items include cars, 11 mobile phones, a tablet, a dongle, three car keys and Rs 14,000 in cash, the senior police officer said.
Further investigation into the case is underway, and efforts are on to trace the absconding accomplice, police added.
"The recovered items will be returned to the rightful owners. Shivanand is still absconding and will be secured very soon. He was earlier arrested in Bengaluru by the Bengaluru Police. We are currently working out to find how many people have been targeted by them," the officer added.
