GEORGE TOWN: Three people are dead and 12 missing after a major landslide at the construction site of an elevated bypass road today which saw workers’ container homes buried in earth.
Fire and rescue officials said early information indicated that at least 10 people were buried in the incident which occurred at 2pm.
Rescue officials from across the state have been dispatched to the site.
It is learnt that those buried were construction workers of the Paya Terubong Paired Road project, a 5km bypass road on the central hillside of the island.
When contacted, state executive councillor Phee Boon Poh confirmed there were three fatalities and 12 missing as of 3.30pm.
Last year, a landslide at a construction site in Tanjung Bungah killed 11 people, a majority of whom were foreign workers.
In the incident, a 10m-high hill slope came crashing down at the construction site for a condominium project.