Malaysia quake: Stranded climbers 'making way down'

05-06-2015 15:22

A group of climbers are making their way down one of South East Asia's highest peaks after being stranded by an earthquake, officials say.

The 137 were "cautiously" heading to a guest house high on Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu, tourism minister for Sabah state Masidi Manjun tweeted.

Earlier rescue attempts with helicopters had to be abandoned due to bad weather.

The 6.0 magnitude earthquake triggered landslides, trapping the climbers.

No deaths have yet been reported, but the quake was powerful enough to snap off one of Mount Kinabalu's distinctive "Donkey's Ear" peaks.

All climbing activity on the mountain has been suspended.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake happened at around 07:15 local time (00:15 BST), at a depth of 10m (32ft). The epicentre was 54km (33 miles) from Mt Kinabalu.

Mt Kinabalu, which stands at 4,095m, is popular with climbers from around the world.

Many are attracted to the challenging "via ferrata" climbing route, where cables, metal rungs and bridges are set into the rocks on the steep terrain to help people ascend.

Mr Manjun said that 32 guides were assisting the tourists on their way down, with the group moving "cautiously due to (a) damaged trail".

But he warned they would have to descend fast with night soon falling.

"Other than ongoing rescue efforts, our priority is to send food, drinks and warm clothing to those still stranded on the mountain," he said.

Some of the group had climbed to the summit to watch the sunrise as the earthquake struck.

 

Climbing Mt Kinabalu

• Climbing up and down Mt Kinabalu takes on average two days and one night. There are two trails - the Summit trail and the more advanced Mesilau trail
• The Summit trail begins at Timpohon Gate (1,800m; 5,906 ft)
• It takes about 6-8 hours to reach Laban Rata (3,273m; 10,738 ft) where climbers rest for a few hours
• They usually depart for the summit at 02:00 in the morning, reaching it 4-5 hours later before descending the mountain

Earlier, one person apparently trapped, a Facebook user identified as Charlene Dmp, said: "Currently we're waiting for the helicopter to save us.

"We cannot go down for now because there are lots of stones falling, there's no safe route down, and there are still tremors. Thank you for all your concern and prayers."

The New Straits Times cited officials from Sabah Parks, the custodian of Mount Kinabalu national park, as saying they believed that some of the climbers and guides on the mountain were injured.

There were no reports of major damage or injuries from the earthquake in other parts of Sabah.

 

bbc/news