The cat that was rescued from the Bukit Kukus landslide was put down today because it was unable to eat due to internal injuries, according to Khoo Boo Leong, commissioner of the Buddhist Tzu Chi Merits Society Malaysia.

He said the veterinarian at the Peng Aun Veterinary Clinic conveyed the sad news to him.

Khoo, who was informed by the rescue team to take the cat for treatment, said he agreed to meet the expenses for its treatment and surgery to amputate two fractured legs.

“We had hoped that after the surgery, we can place the cat in a shelter. But after being told that the cat could not eat, we think it is best for it to be put to sleep,” he said to reporters at the scene of the landslide today.

Rescuers found the cat covered in mud, two of its legs fractured and almost lifeless under the rubble of the landslide here last Saturday.

Up to 2pm today, the bodies of eight people have been pulled out of the debris. Three of the dead are Indonesian men, four, Bangladeshi men and one, a Myanmar woman. Two Bangladeshi men are missing, believed to have been buried alive.

Four people were injured in the incident – one Bangladeshi man, two Indonesian women – one of whom is four months’ pregnant, and one Cambodian woman.

-- Bernama