The honorary consul of Bangladesh will pursue the matter of compensation with relevant authorities after all the bodies of victims of the Bukit Kukus landslide in Paya Terubong have been repatriated.

Shaik Ismail Allaudin said the main priority now was for the bodies to be repatriated as there were five Bangladeshi bodies currently placed at the Forensic Department in the Penang General Hospital.

“The pressure from the family for the bodies to be repatriated is very high and demanding, so my priority is for the bodies to be repatriated soon, before I pursue the matter with the relevant authorities for their compensation,” he told Bernama when contacted here today.

Shaik Ismail said the consulate office was currently taking charge of claiming the five Bangladeshi bodies, and so far only one had obtained all the necessary clearance to be repatriated.

He said the body identified as Mithu Hossain, 30, would be sent back to Bangladesh tomorrow, accompanied by his elder brother Hossain Mohamad Ripon.

“We have made the arrangement for Mithu's body to be repatriated tomorrow, but we need to finish up the standard operating procedure with the hospital and police before the other four bodies could be claimed and sent back to their country of origin,” he said.

However, Shaik Ismail said the body that was found yesterday had yet to be identified.

The tragedy, which occurred at 1.56 pm last Friday, claimed the lives of nine foreign workers, causing injuries to three others with one more still trapped.

- Bernama