MUKAH, 7 Feb: Usaha pasukan penyelamat dan pihak berkaitan yang bertungkus-lumus membantu mangsa banjir di sini amat dihargai, kata Ahli Parlimen Mukah, Dato Hanifah Hajar Taib.

Menurutnya mereka yang terlibat termasuk pihak sukarelawan dilihat komited dalam memastikan keselamatan serta kebajikan penduduk yang terjejas sentiasa dalam keadaan baik.

“Saya menzahirkan penghargaan dan terima kasih kepada semua pihak yang telah bertungkus lumus membantu mangsa banjir, sama ada secara langsung mahupun tidak langsung,” katanya menerusi satu hantaran di Facebook pada Khamis.

Terdahulu, Timbalan Menteri Ekonomi Malaysia itu turun padang bagi meninjau situasi banjir terkini yang melanda beberapa kawasan di Mukah. 

Dalam lawatan tersebut, Hanifah turut menyampaikan bantuan kepada penduduk yang masih terputus hubungan dengan bandar, termasuk jaket keselamatan serta bakul makanan yang mengandungi barangan keperluan harian. 

“Bantuan ini diharapkan dapat meringankan beban mereka yang memerlukan,” ujarnya.

Hanifah dalam pada itu berharap mangsa banjir tabah menghadapi ujian  bencana kali ini sambil memuji semangat kebersamaan dalam komuniti dalam menghadapi cabaran mendatang.

Lawatan Hanifah semalam turut diiringi oleh wakil beberapa jabatan, agensi, dan pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) seperti Pejabat Residen Bahagian Mukah, Pejabat Daerah Mukah, Polis Diraja Malaysia Daerah Mukah, Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat Mukah, Angkatan Pertahanan Awam Malaysia (APM) Mukah, Angkatan Sukarelawan Malaysia (RELA) Mukah, serta beberapa Jawatankuasa Kemajuan dan Keselamatan Kampung (JKKK). 

KOTA KINABALU: Jumlah mangsa banjir yang dipindahkan ke pusat pemindahan sementara (PPS) di Sabah meningkat semula kepada 608 orang daripada 162 keluarga di tiga daerah, setakat 8 pagi ini.

Jurucakap Sekretariat Jawatankuasa Pengurusan Bencana Negeri (JPBN) Sabah berkata, jumlah itu berikutan peningkatan mangsa di daerah Keningau dan Beaufort.

Setakat 8 pagi ini katanya, PPS Selagon di Beaufort yang dibuka semula sejak tengah hari semalam, menempatkan seramai 223 mangsa daripada 65 keluarga berbanding 149 mangsa pada malam tadi.

“Di Keningau, jumlah mangsa yang dipindahkan setakat pagi ini ialah 132 orang daripada 32 keluarga di dua PPS iaitu di Dewan Koningau, Majlis Daerah Keningau (MDK) dan Dewan Masyarakat Keningau berbanding 77 mangsa malam tadi.

“Dewan Masyarakat Keningau baru dibuka semalam berikutan peningkatan mangsa selepas banjir melanda sekitar pekan Keningau dan beberapa kampung berhampiran sungai kelmarin,” katanya.

Sementara itu, daerah Kinabatangan kekal merekodkan seramai 253 mangsa daripada 65 keluarga yang ditempatkan sementara di dua PPS berikutan banjir di beberapa kampung sejak 29 Januari lalu.

Banjir gelombang kedua kembali melanda daerah Beaufort dipercayai kesan daripada hujan lebat berterusan di hulu Sungai Padas, khususnya di Keningau dan Tambunan yang turut berdepan bencana banjir sejak kelmarin.

Pembukaan semula PPS Selagon di Beaufort dan tambahan satu PPS di Keningau semalam menjadikan lima PPS mangsa banjir beroperasi di Sabah setakat pagi ini.

KUALA LUMPUR: A ground crew member was killed when a Bell 206L4 helicopter caught fire while landing to refuel near a TNB project site in Bentong.

Pahang Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) public relations officer Zulfadli Zakaria, who confirmed the incident, said the pilot survived the fire in the incident yesterday morning which completely destroyed the helicopter.

The incident occurred along the old Kuala Lumpur-Bentong road. Both the pilot and victim are Indonesian nationals.

In a statement, the Pahang JBPM operations centre said upon receiving a distress call, five personnel and an officer from the Bentong Fire and Rescue Station were dispatched to the scene, with a Fire Rescue Tender (FRT) arriving at 10.52am.

TNB said it has suspended operations of a second helicopter involved in maintenance work at the project site.

In a statement on its TNB Careline Facebook page, the company said it would fully cooperate with authorities in the investigation and extended its condolences to the victim’s family.

“Witnesses reported that the helicopter lost control and overturned during the landing process.

“The ground crew member, an Indonesian engineer, was fatally injured by the helicopter’s rotor blades,” the statement said, Bernama reported.

Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) confirmed in a statement that the ill-fated helicopter, leased and operated by MHS Aviation Bhd, was conducting an aerial work flight.

The last update from the operator, received at 10.18am by Flight Information Services at the Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control Centre, indicated that the helicopter was preparing to land at the designated landing site.

CAAM said further investigations will be carried out by the Air Accident Investigation Bureau under the Transport Ministry, in accordance with the Civil Aviation Regulations 2016.

JAKARTA (Xinhua/Bernama): An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 jolted Southwest of Sumatra, Indonesia at 04:31 GMT on Friday, the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 9.73 degrees south latitude and 97.57 degrees east longitude.

It poses no tsunami threat to Malaysia. There were no also immediate reports of damage. Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Indonesia straddles the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a highly seismically active zone, where different plates on the Earth's crust meet and create a large number of earthquakes and volcanic activity. - Xinhua/Bernama