Three years after the landslide tragedy at the Father’s Organic Farm campsite in Batang Kali in December 2022, which claimed 31 lives, Captain Hilmi Husman from the Malaysian Civil Defence Force (APM) is still haunted by horrific memories. As the Hulu Selangor District Civil Defence Officer at the time, he discovered the body of a child buried while still wrapped in a blanket, as well as a family couple in an embrace, as if trying to protect each other in their final moments.

Batang Kali

“It was the experience hardest to forget; it still plays in my mind to this day,” he said, now serving as Chief Aquatic Programme Trainer at the Civil Defence Training Academy (ALPHA) in Bangi.

The tragedy, the first major disaster he faced, began with an emergency call on a pitch-black night, involving nearly 100 victims. (118 words)