KUANTAN – About 450 drivers and passengers of vehicles stranded on the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Highway due to landslides and floods yesterday were rescued in stages, beginning early yesterday.
A spokesman for Anih Bhd said that a tow truck service will be used today to remove vehicles stranded at the location.
According to her, the all-day operation that started at around 7am was conducted only after the location could be accessed by the concession company’s staff.
She said all personnel had been stationed at several locations on the highway to render relevant assistance, such as distributing food and beverages to the victims.
As at 10pm last night, the Km76 to Km126 stretch of the Karak-Temerloh route was still closed in both directions.
Meanwhile, Pengurusan Air Pahang Bhd (Paip) chief executive officer Saiful Zaini Mohd Bokhari said a total of 13 water treatment plants (LRAs) involving the districts of Kuantan, Temerloh, Bentong, Lipis and Raub are not operational due to flooding.
He said following the shutdown of the LRAs, a total of 53,916 user accounts experienced water supply disruptions.
“The closure started yesterday with four LRAs, but increased to 13 LRAs due to rising river water levels as well as power outages from Tenaga Nasional Bhd.
“Assistance in the form of clean water supply and static tanks has been mobilised to the affected relief centres, but there are still many areas that are flooded, causing difficulty in delivering treated water via tankers,” he said in a statement last night. – Bernama, December 20, 2021
