Orchard near Gunung Jerai abandoned after brothers' tragic death | New Straits Times

YAN: For the past three years, 56-year-old Fuziah Morad has never set foot in her family's orchard in Titi Hayun.

The pain of losing a brother in the Gunung Jerai water disaster on July 18, 2021 and another six months later is too great.

“My two older brothers, Zainol and Abdullah, were the ones who took care of the family orchard.

“Since they left, the orchard has not been tended. I cannot remember this place. It is just devastating to be there without them,” said Fuziah, holding back her tears.

She said her two deceased brothers lived in Alor Star and had returned to the village to work in the orchard at the time of the fateful incident.

“At around 4:30 p.m. it started to rain heavily. But I noticed that it was not normal rain. It was unusually heavy.”

“At around 5.10pm, the villagers rushed to me and told me that my two brothers and their workers had been swept away by a column of water.

“Authorities immediately launched a search and rescue operation to find them,” she said.

Fuziah, the youngest child in the family, said the body of Zainol, then 66, was found under the ruins of a house built in the orchard.

She said Abdullah was found unharmed hours later, trapped among the rubble.

“Although my brother survived the disaster, his health continued to deteriorate and he died six months later at the age of 56 from a lung infection,” added Fuziah from Kampung Permatang Keramat.

Fuziah said she will forever be indebted to her two deceased brothers who took care of her and her two other sisters, Zaini and Harina, when they were young.