Two Bangladeshis and one Myanmar national were killed while 11 more remain missing after a landslide at a construction site in George Town, capital of the northwest Malaysian state of Penang yesterday. The bodies were pulled from the debris yesterday, according to The Straits Times. Thousands of tonnes of earth slid down from a cut slope at Lengkok Lembah Permai in Tanjung Bungah, George Town, at about 8.30am. Most of those trapped were believed to be foreign workers from Indonesia and Bangladesh, including Rohingyas, Penang Fire and Rescue Department Director Saadon Mokhtar said.

“Now the problem we are facing is we need to excavate a 35m heap of earth. We have deployed a K9 unit with three dogs to search for victims,” Mokhtar said. The Star Online quoted Saadon as saying the earth was

washed down from a height of 35m.  Penang Island City Council Mayor, Datuk Maimunah Mohd Sharif,  said: “We don’t know what caused the landslide yet. But it cannot be due to wet weather. It has not been raining for days on the island.”

Prime Minister Najib Razak has expressed sadness over the incident via Twitter.

“Saddened with the landslide in Tanjung Bungah. Hoping that the search and rescue efforts will be carried out smoothly, let us pray together,” Datuk Seri Najib said in the Twitter post.

A stop-work order has been issued on the construction site until the search and rescue is completed.  

Bangladeshi Mohammad Jashim Hussein Ahmad, who was working in the area at the time, told the state-run Bernama news agency the landslide happened suddenly and was over in minute, and the other workers had no time to run.

The construction is for the affordable housing project at Jalan Lembah Permai, the Malay Mail Online reported. The development consists of a 49-storey building with two towers and 12 levels of car parks.

It has 980 units for sale at below RM400,000 (S$128,664) and was listed as an affordable housing project. Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, meanwhile, called for a state inquiry into the landslide yestreday.

During a visit to the site, the chief minister said he will put the proposal for formal inquiry to the state executive council for consideration next week, the Malay Mail Online reported.

“A normal investigation will not suffice for this tragedy, so I will propose a state inquiry... that is similar to the inquiry held for the incidents at the second Penang bridge and the Menara Umno previously,” he said.

The state set up a commission and conducted public inquiries into the collapse of a section of the ramp leading to the Second Penang Bridge and the failure of a structure at Menara Umno along Macalister Road in 2013, said the report.