The quiet in Taman Bukit Mewah and Taman Bukit Utama in Bukit Antarabangsa was shattered by the sound of strong wind and an explosion just before the landslide hit the neighbourhood in the wee hours of the morning, according to an eyewitness.
Businessman Hassan Saad, 48, said he was watching television in his sitting room at 3.30am when he heard what sounded like strong wind but when he looked out, the air was still and the trees were not swaying.
He returned to watching the TV but suddenly he heard an explosion like that of a bomb. He ran out of the house and saw the earth sliding down the hillslope and hitting his neighbour's house in front.
Hassan said he shouted to wake up his family and alert his neighbours to run for their lives. His family of 10, including his mother-in-law and two cousins managed to run to safety.
Hassan, who has been living there for 15 years, said it was the first time that such a thing had happened in the area.
"Last month, eight trees fell on the hillslop about 20m behind my house and I informed the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) about it.
"They came and chopped the trees. I thought that everything was okay then," he told reporters at the scene.
Another resident, Lian Wan Jian of Taman Bukit Mewah, said he heard two loud noises and thought that it was an earthquake.
He said he was still awake at that time but his wife and two children were jolted from their sleep by the noises.
When he opened the door to run out, he and his family saw the force of the earth movement lifting the cars and felt his house being pushed towards the neighbour's house.
He and his family, however, managed to run to safety.
"Maybe we we were able to save ourselves because our house is at the end (of the row)," he said at the centre for the victims at the Addinniah surau in Taman Bukit Mewah.
Meanwhile, a man who wanted to be known only as Chong, said his daughter and two-month-old grandchild were buried alive in the landslide while his son was still missing as at 9am.
He said he visited them last night and had gone home at 11pm but was told by a neighbour's son that his son's house had been buried in the landslide.
The place was in chaos and hundreds of residents were unable to get out of the area because the only road leading out was jam-packed with buldozers, fire engines, ambulances and trucks and the security forces invovled in the search and rescue operation.
Residents trying to flee the area also contributed to the jam. - Bernama
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