Families remember tragic rockslide at Gunung Cheroh that claimed 40 lives in 1973

The Star

Fifty years ago, many Gunung Cheroh villagers lost their loved ones during a rockslide in 1973.  That site was the then-Kampung Kacang Putih, located at the foothill of the limestone hills where the incident claimed 40 lives and destroyed 20 houses.  The incident happened at about 7pm during a heavy downpour on Oct 18, 1973, a week before the settlement residents, majority who were Indians, were busy preparing for Deepavali.  Read more at https://shorturl.at/flnt1  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00 50 years ago, many Gurung Ceruh villagers located in Ipoh, Perak, lost their loved ones

00:06 during a rock slide in 1973.

00:09 This site was then the Kampung Kacang Putih, located at the foothill of the limestone hills,

00:15 where the incident claimed 40 lives and destroyed 20 houses.

00:19 The incident happened during a heavy downpour on October 18, 1973, a week before the settlement

00:26 of the residents, majority who were Indians, were busy preparing for the Pawali.

00:32 Some of the bodies of the victims have yet to be found.

00:35 An event was held on Tuesday in memory of the tragedy, which was organized by the Perak

00:41 National Archives Department and launched by the State Human Resources, Health, Indian

00:47 Community Affairs and National Integration Committee Chairman A. Sivanesan.

00:53 Two speakers who narrated at the event were 70-year-old P. Mariah Yee, who is a caretaker

00:59 of a small Hindu temple inside the limestone cave there, and 62-year-old D. Subramanyam,

01:05 a kacang putih entrepreneur in Buntung.

01:08 Mariah Yee, who was 19 years old during the tragedy, said her brother's wife and their

01:13 two children died during the incident.

01:16 Subramanyam, who was 12 years old at the time, said a year after the tragedy, the villagers

01:22 were moved to the current Kampung Kacang Putih in Buntung.

01:25 He said for many years, he could not bring himself to visit the site.

01:30 Meanwhile during the event, Sivanesan told reporters that a memorial site would be constructed

01:36 at the site very soon.

01:38 He also pleaded to the public to not throw rubbish at the site and respect the dead.

01:43 "We are not going to throw rubbish at the site," he said.

01:44 "We are not going to throw rubbish at the site."

01:45 "We are not going to throw rubbish at the site," he said.

01:45 "We are not going to throw rubbish at the site."

01:46 "We are not going to throw rubbish at the site."

01:47 "We are not going to throw rubbish at the site."

01:48 "We are not going to throw rubbish at the site."

01:49 "We are not going to throw rubbish at the site."

01:50 "We are not going to throw rubbish at the site."

01:50 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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