Water surge: 21 stranded at Risda Eco Park rescued

SLIM RIVER: A total of 21 people stranded at the Risda Eco Park in Ulu Slim after a dam burst and a bridge collapsed on Aug 23 have been rescued as of 12pm.

Perak Fire and Rescue Department director Sayani Saidon said 19 visitors and two staff were rescued on Saturday (Aug 24).

“The flash flood at Sg Gelinting, Ulu Slim, caused a bridge to collapse, blocking the only access route to the Risda Eco Park camping area.

“A total of 21 people were trapped in the area but were not injured,” she said in a statement.

She added that the operation commander directed the team to perform a river crossing using a rope system (highline) to evacuate all victims.

“All the victims were handed over to the Eco Park authorities and relocated to the temporary evacuation centre at the Risda Eco Park Academy,” she said.

Operation commander Khairil Adli Zakaria said the operation began at 8am and ended at 12pm.

“Six male adults, eight female adults, two male toddlers, three female toddlers and two female infants were rescued. All victims are aged from 2 to 50 years old.

“It took us about four hours to rescue the victims. We started the rescue mission at 8am today,” he said at a press conference at Eco Risda Park on Saturday (Aug 24).

He added that the boat rafting method was also used to rescue the toddlers.

“We had challenges with the flood current and had to use the boat rafting method to rescue them.

“All the victims are safe,” he said.