Malaysian mountain guides are slowly helping 137 climbers who were stranded earlier at the top of southeast Asia’s tallest peak by a powerful earthquake to descend to safety, a local official said Friday.
The paths down Mount Kinabalu, damaged by falling rocks, were treacherous as night was falling, said Masidi Manjun, the tourism minister for the Malaysian state of Sabah.
Ten people with injuries have already been taken off the mountain, Masidi was quoted as saying by Malaysia’s official Bernama news agency.
He said 32 guides were carefully leading the remainder down the mountain, adding that the groups would be taken to the Laban Rata rest house down the slopes, where food was being brought in.
Helicopters were having difficulty reaching the climbers on the mountain peak due to bad weather but were hoping to drop supplies and warm clothes, said Jamili Nais, Sabah Parks director.
Damage to the hospital at the quake’s epicenter in the town of Ranau was also hampering rescue efforts, he added.
The magnitude-6.0 quake struck early Friday local time, damaging several buildings in Ranau — the epicenter, the Bernama news agency said.
Videos and social media purportedly taken from the base of the mountain appeared to show large rock slides enveloping the peak after the tremor and people anxiously looking for shelter.
Masidi earlier said that the injured included two people whose arms were broken by falling rocks.
The Star Online news site reported that a doctor who was able to return to base camp confirmed at least one death. Officials have not confirmed the death.
‘Thank God, we are safe’
Muhammad Husni Ideris, 22, who has two sisters stranded on the mountain, said he was “thankful” to find out that both, Nurul Husna Ideris, 27, and Nurul Hani Ideris, 29, were safe.
“Two of my sisters were en route from the top, going down this morning when the earthquake hit Sabah,” he told CNN via WhatsApp.
One sent him a message that read: “Earthquake, part of the peak fell off. We are en route from the summit to Laban Rata, the base. Thank God, we are safe. Stuck, cannot further the journey.”
He added, “We are waiting for the helicopter to bring them down. No further news from them since; can’t reach them.”
He said his two sisters were “amateur climbers with a group and guides.” There’s no word yet on when the helicopter might be sent to help them.
“They are safe, waiting for the rescue,” he said. “They were so calm.”
Many who felt the quake in the Sabah area took to Twitter to share their experiences.
One, who gave her name only as Eliana, said: “I have to say… I’m Colombian, many earthquakes in my life, the one this morning in Kinabalu Park was one of the worse.”
Another Twitter user, Abex, posted she “felt it very strong” from Kundasang, near to Mount Kinabalu. “Lucky I just finished the trekking last night,” she said.
At 4,095 meters (13,435 feet) above sea level, Kinabalu is one of the highest mountains in Southeast Asia. The UNESCO-listed Mount Kinabalu National Park is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the state of Sabah, in Malaysian Borneo, with visitors forced to book two to three months in advance to secure one of 196 daily allocated hiking permits.