By IANS,
Kuala Lumpur : Veterinarian N. Yogeswary, an ethnic Chinese adopted by an Indian family in Malaysia and married to an Indian, was killed in the devastating landslide that hit her home here Saturday, but not before she managed to save her children by shielding them from a collapsing beam.
Yogeswary, 40, hugged her children close to her body to shield them from the falling debris. The beam fell on her back, fracturing her ribs and causing massive internal bleeding.
Her children Avinish and Pryanka, aged 11 and three, escaped the devastating landslide which flattened their home in the upper class Taman Bukit Mewah locality here Saturday.
Yogeswary’s husband, K. Thanarajah, 40, and their second child, 10-year-old Thivesh, survived the disaster although they were initially trapped in another part of the house.
Both were saved by Fire and Rescue Department personnel.
Thanarajah, an engineer, fractured his arm while Thivesh suffered leg injuries.
Thanarajah received outpatient treatment at the Gleneagles Intan Medical Centre where Thivesh was warded.
Yogeswary’s brother, K. Jayabalan, 34, said his sister’s neighbours called him at 4 a.m. informing him that her house had collapsed.
“I live about 2 km away in Kelab Ukay and immediately rushed to my sister’s house. I found Avinish and Pryanka standing outside the house,” he said.
“I made sure the children were safe before going into the house with several neighbours, calling out for the rest of the family.”
“Thanarajah and Thivesh responded to our calls but we could not get to them,” he recalled.
Rescuers arrived shortly and managed to free the trapped father and son. Yogeswary’s body was later recovered from the rubble and sent to Kuala Lumpur Hospital.
Friends told the New Straits Times that Yogeswary, a Chinese by birth, had been adopted by an Indian family.
She traced her biological parents through advertisements in newspapers and had been in close contact with them since then.
Yogeswary ran her own clinic in the Wangsa Maju locality, the newspaper said.
Four people were killed and 14 bungalows damaged in the landslide. Authorities have banned further construction work.