IPOH, 15 Jan 2009: The body of security guard, Yip Lum Choon, 55, who was crushed in the Perak Tong cave temple rockfall in Jalan Kuala Kangsar was found last night.
Perak police chief, Datuk Zulkefli Abdullah, said Yip’s body was found at 10.15pm and sent to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital for a post-mortem.
The search operations began at 8pm following several small blasts to break up boulders, and drilling machines were used to facilitate the search, Zulkefli told reporters here last night.
He said the search operation was done with the help of the Fire and Rescue Services Department and the Special Malaysian Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART).
Police found the four-day old decomposed body under limestone rocks.
The search took four days as the area was unstable and rescuers had to be careful.
The cave temple has been closed to visitors and the Perak Minerals and Geoscience Department will conduct an investigation to ensure that the area was safe for visitors, he said.
In the 11 Jan incident, two visitors were injured and Yip was reported missing. At the time of the incident, there were 16 temple visitors.
This is the second incident here after the Gunung Cheroh tragedy in 1973 when 42 people died with 30 of them still buried under rocks. — Bernama
