Hundreds search for Malaysia landslide survivors

STORY: A landslide ripped through a campsite in Malaysia on Friday (December 16).

Killing at least 20 people, including children, as they slept in their tents, officials said.

Search teams scoured thick mud and downed trees for those still missing.

Survivor Kung Tuang, who worked on the site, escaped the natural disaster:

“Our neighbor woke us up because their house were shaking and they saw the water. Earth had already fallen towards the farmhouse. They woke us up - around 13 of us, we all ran uphill. Not long after that, maybe just 2 minutes after we ran, we heard the earth falling loudly and all our houses were destroyed.”

The landslide in Selangor state bordering the capital, Kuala Lumpur, occurred before 3 a.m. (1900 GMT).

It tore down a hillside from an estimated height of 100 feet, covering an area of about 0.4 hectares, according to officials.

District police chief Suffian Abdullah said those who died were all Malaysian:

“At the moment we have 394 rescuers from 15 agencies working on the search and rescue operation. Up to now we are still combing the area where the incident happened.”

The cause of the disaster was not immediately clear and there had been only light rain in the area.

Selangor is the country's most affluent state and has suffered landslides before, often attributed to forest and land clearance.

According to the Malaysia National Disaster Management Agency, 94 people overall were caught in the landslide, with 61 safe and eight hospitalized.