Climbers say rescue effort in Malaysia slow and chaotic

[VinnieV]

Climbers say rescue effort in Malaysia slow and chaotic

PUBLISHED : Monday, 08 June, 2015, 2:10am
UPDATED : Monday, 08 June, 2015, 2:28am

Associated Press in Kuala Lumpur

Rescuers carry the body of a victim down to the bottom of Mount Kinabalu in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Photo: Xinhua

Some climbers who said they were promised evacuation by helicopter have accused Malaysian authorities of a slow and chaotic response.

Trekker Amanda Peter said the local guides told her group of 21 climbers that a helicopter would pick them up on Saturday, but when it did not, they decided to walk after a frustrating nine-hour wait.

"There were risks of us dying up there of cold overnight," said the Sabah native. "The guide said we either die of waiting or we die trying. So we all chose to try walking down ourselves."

She said she saw two bodies on a flat rock on the way down.

"It really affected me as it could have been me. I was lucky to be given a chance to live," Peter said, adding that the descent was "very risky and we were all starving, dehydrated and tired but at least we tried saving ourselves".

Rescuers on Saturday escorted down to safety 137 hikers who were stuck on the mountain for up to 18 hours by the rockfalls. Dozens of aftershocks have followed the main quake.

Australian trekker Vee Jin Dumlao described chaotic scenes as survivors made their way to safety.

"[Official rescue crews] were looking rather lost really, and it was the mountain guides who did most of the work attending to the injured, strapping people into stretchers, getting ready to take them down the mountain," Dumlao told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "The whole government emergency response was a farce," she said.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse