Thirty film crew members were rescued from Gua Tempurung in Ipoh last night after being trapped for several hours due to rising water levels at the cave’s exit, Bernama reported.
Perak police chief Mohd Yusri Hassan Basdri said the crew involved a total of 80 people and the thirty who were trapped included locals and Singaporeans.
“A team from the Gopeng and Kota Bharu police stations were dispatched to the location. Based on initial investigations, the incident happened due to continuous heavy rain since 4 pm. The victims became trapped after the water level rose suddenly in the cave.
“The water was about 1.5-meter deep. All the victims were crew members of an international film company from Singapore working on a film,” Perak Police chief Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said in a statement last night.
He said that after a combined rescue attempt between the police and the Fire and Rescue Department was undertaken, all trapped individuals were freed and brought out of the location without any injuries being reported.
Having worked for the film firm for two months, Muhd Aidilfitri Ilias, 20, one of the imprisoned crew members, told Bernama that after entering the cave at 8 am, the water level suddenly climbed to their waist level at around 4 pm.
“The situation was chaotic and everyone panicked as we were trapped for two hours. I managed to contact the crew outside the cave to inform them of our situation so that they could call the Fire and Rescue Department.
“I was traumatised and afraid when it happened and I was only thinking of saving myself and our equipment,” he told reporters when met at the scene.
Meanwhile, Mohd Fitri Shah Abdullah, 25, said he was just thankful they managed to escape unscathed.
“We couldn’t contact anyone due to the limited communication network and we could only communicate with our other crew members using a walkie-talkie,” he said.
However, it is unsure whether the film crew were alerted by the cave’s rangers about the rising water levels. Given that it is the monsoon season, it is unclear why no precautionary measures were taken.
Coconuts have reached out to Perak’s Fire Department for further information.
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