Seri Iskandar Incident: Victim Cried For Help Twice Before Being Fully Buried - Colleague

SERI ISKANDAR, Sept 8 (Bernama) -- “We heard him call for help twice but could not save him before he was buried again,” said a fellow worker of the victim killed in the incident at Kampung Teluk Kepayang, Bota Kiri, yesterday.

The victim, Raja Daniel Iskandar Raja Teh Suhaimi, 25, a contract worker with a plumbing company, was confirmed dead at the scene after being buried while carrying out excavation and pipe installation work at a river sand collection site in the village.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, said the soil at the excavation site collapsed twice in under a minute.

“Two of my colleagues and I were buried up to our chests, but we managed to get out and it was really traumatising,” he said when met by reporters at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Seri Iskandar Hospital, here today.

He added that the late Raja Daniel Iskandar had expressed his wish to come to Perak a few days before the incident.

“The pipe installation work is already in its final phase, and we are expected to return to Terengganu once it is completed,” he said, adding that the victim had been with the company since 2019.

Meanwhile, the victim’s uncle, Wan Fauzi Wan Ahmad, 60, said his nephew will be buried at Kampung Makam Lama Muslim Cemetery in Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, following the completion of the autopsy at Seri Iskandar Hospital.

He said the late Raja Daniel Iskandar is survived by his wife and two-month-old twins.

Yesterday, Perak Fire and Rescue Department acting assistant director of operations Shazlean Mohd Hanafiah said three other victims, who were local men, were rescued in the 5 pm incident.

He said the men, aged between 28 and 38, were rescued at about 6.30 pm after being buried up to chest level and they sustained injuries.

Shazlean added that the fourth victim, who was completely buried, was confirmed dead at the scene, with the body of the 26-year-old recovered at 7.59 pm and sent to Seri Iskandar Hospital for a post-mortem.

--BERNAMA