GEORGE TOWN (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Distraught family members waited for news after hearing that their relatives were buried under a landslide in Tanjung Bungah, Penang, on Saturday morning (Oct 21).

Bangladeshi national Mohd Bulumulah Mohd Atelmullah, 47, was seen seated on a pathway in tears, worried about his nephew Nuralla Altapussh, 35, who was believed to be buried in the landslide which hit a construction site.

"I do not know what to do. He came to work at 8am and this took place at 8.30am. I think he might be no more," he said when met at the scene.

Another Bangladeshi Mohd Awal Jafra Alma,21, said a friend alerted him that his younger brother Abdul Rahman, 18, was buried in the landslide.

A worker who was at the construction site when the incident happened said he escaped the landslide because he had moved away. Mohammad Jashim Husseif Ahmad, 27, said there were about 20 people at the scene.

Three victims have been confirmed dead and their bodies recovered.

The sheer face of the hill at the construction site collapsed at about 8.30am on Saturday.

The state Fire and Rescue Department said the hill face that slid down was estimated to be 10m high.