GOPENG, MALAYSIA - Some 400 female students of a matriculation college here had to be evacuated from their hostel in the middle of the night due to a landslip.

One 19-year-old student said she was sleeping when a siren woke her up in the midst of heavy rain at 2am Saturday.

"I was scared. It was cold when we were asked to leave our beds for temporary quarters in the library and other buildings," she said when interviewed.

The student had been among 560 students staying at one of the five-storey block hostels located at the summit of a slope that had severely eroded.

Some 160 students whose quarters were closest to the affected slope had already moved out to nearby quarters on Friday night, but the rest were supposed to move out on Saturday.

"(On Friday) night, there was an 8.30pm briefing to tell us we should pack and get ready to move. However, because of the rain, they moved us out early.

"Actually, that slope has been eroding for some time," the student added.

A check of the site behind the affected hostel revealed sunken drains, a broken pathway and fallen fencing following the landslip. Canvas covered a stretch of slope about 20m high.

The college director refused to comment on the matter.