The Dark Tragedy of the Gunung Cheroh Collapse, Ipoh
A tragic story, increasingly forgotten, struck the state of Perak. On a cold night, October 18, 1973, heavy rain soaked the earth of Kampung Kacang Putih.
Kampung Kacang Putih was a village located at Gunung Cheroh, Ipoh. At that time, rain fell frequently and heavily every week, likely due to the monsoon season hitting our country. With Deepavali approaching in a week, some of the Indian residents were not in the village, as they were busy in town buying supplies for the upcoming celebrations. Others remained at home, staying put due to the heavy rain that had persisted all week. The silence of the night, accompanied by the sound of heavy rain, was suddenly shattered by a horrific tragedy that the victims' families would never be able to forget. On that fateful night, a strange and incredibly loud sound was suddenly heard by the local residents. The booming, echoing noise was terrifying, as if something had fallen from the sky to strike the earth.
The clock showed approximately 9 PM. Many residents in their homes peered outside to find the source of the terrifyingly loud noise. Can you, loyal readers of orangperak.com, imagine the situation of those who were anxious and confused by what they were facing? We ourselves cannot describe the distress in our hearts if we were in their shoes. Unexpectedly, the quiet night accompanied by heavy rain in Kampung Kacang Putih turned into a night of catastrophe. The strange echoing sounds and the terrifying thuds they heard were actually Gunung Cheroh collapsing. The Gunung Cheroh collapse struck Kampung Kacang Putih, destroying 20 houses, shops, and cattle and goat pens in the blink of an eye. The debris from the Gunung Cheroh collapse consisted of limestone boulders of various sizes. Some were small, while others were giant boulders weighing over tens of tons. Those who were not affected by the collapse immediately went to provide aid to the victims crushed by the Gunung Cheroh landslide. Some were severely injured, and others died at the scene. Local residents who came to help tried to dig through the earth to assist those trapped under the rubble while waiting for the fire department and rescue teams to arrive. The search and rescue operation involved over 500 people, including several volunteer organizations. It was heartbreaking to see the condition of the victims recovered. Some were left as mere shreds of flesh, some were missing limbs, and others were crushed.
Those who survived the collapse were immediately taken to the Ipoh General Hospital (HBI), which is known today as
Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital
.
The Menteri Besar of Perak
at that time was Datuk Seri Kamaruddin Isa. He arrived at the disaster site at 3 AM, just hours after the incident occurred. Datuk Seri Kamaruddin Isa reportedly rushed back from Kuala Lumpur as soon as he was informed of the tragedy. For your information, loyal readers of orangperak.com, the rescue operation was halted a few hours after the sun approached midday. The rescue team decided to stop the search and rescue efforts, leaving the bodies that had not yet been found buried under the giant boulders. Approximately 12 bodies were found after the excavation efforts, and it is believed that about 30 more bodies, mostly of Indian descent, remain buried under the massive rock collapse and have not been recovered to this day. This tragedy is among the most tragic to have ever occurred in our country. Following this unfortunate incident, the Perak state government decided to relocate the 120 residents still living in Kampung Kacang Putih at the time, realizing that the location was no longer safe for habitation. Most of them moved to a new settlement area in Buntong, Ipoh, and the name Kampung Kacang Putih was retained.
This year, 2017, although 44 years have passed since this dark tragedy, it is said that the massive boulders remain in their original positions from the collapse, serving as a memorial to the tragic event and acting as a tombstone for the dozens of bodies crushed and buried beneath them.
