Malaysia's Klang river clean-up: More than 10 bodies, including infant, discovered since 2022

Over 10 bodies, including that of an infant, have been discovered in the Klang river in Malaysia during cleanup works since 2022.

This work is part of the Selangor government's ongoing Klang River Flood Mitigation Project.

Syaiful Azmen Nordin, managing director of Landasan Lumayan, the project's master developer, told The Star that they have been discovering these corpses in the river since they started work in November 2022.

He added that the bodies were handed over to the police and fire department for further investigation.

Items such as refrigerators, lorry tyres, motorcycles as well as furniture such as beds and sofas were also found in the river, The Star reported.

"We could assume they were washed away during the floods, but the numbers are too many," Syaiful said.

Describing the current level of pollution as severe and a challenge to the dredging efforts, he told Malay Mail: "I honestly don't understand how a fridge ends up in the river."

"There needs to be more civic consciousness and awareness among the public about taking care of our rivers," he added.

About 94,000 tonnes of waste has been removed from Klang river to date, with an estimated handling cost of RM20 million (S$6.04 million), reported the New Straits Times.

The flood mitigation project under the Selangor Maritime Gateway aims to increase the river capacity by up to 40 per cent, as well as rehabilitating the ecosystem and improving water quality.

It has successfully increased the Klang River's water capacity by 18 per cent.

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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com