MMEA officer feared missing while hiking in Langkawi

ALOR STAR – A Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) officer is believed to have gone missing while climbing Telaga Tujuh in Gunung Matchincang in Langkawi yesterday afternoon.

Langkawi district police chief Shariman Ashari said police received a report on the disappearance of Mohd Ridhaudden Rosman, 32, who was attached to the search-and-rescue division of Putrajaya MMEA at 12.47pm this morning.

“The motorcycle used by (Ridhaudden) is still in the Telaga Tujuh parking area and the last time he uploaded his status (on social media) was when he reached the top of Telaga Tujuh at approximately 4.45pm yesterday,” he said in a statement today.

Shariman said the MMEA officer who was at the island on assignment at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2023 also contacted his wife through WhatsApp at 5.15pm.

“He (is believed) to have gone (climbing) on his own and was not on duty,” said Shariman, who also said a search for the officer involving ground and air assets has been mounted. 

He said police, the Fire and Rescue Department, MMEA, and the Civil Defence Force, with 23 officers and 68 other personnel – as well as 15 civilians familiar with the Telaga Tujuh area – are part of the search operation.

Meanwhile, acting MMEA director-general Datuk Saiful Lizan Ibrahim said the officer was believed to be heading to the climbing location after finishing his duty at noon yesterday, before his roommate could not find him.

“There was supposed to be a night programme (in which he was on duty) but he didn’t show up and his roommate tried to contact him but failed, so we suspected something untoward had happened before sending MMEA members to look for him.

“After searching at several locations, we found a motorcycle believed to be borrowed by him from a friend here (Langkawi) at the foothill of Mount Matchincang near the Telaga Tujuh area,” he said when met by reporters at Langkawi’s Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre.

Saiful Lizan said a mountain ranger was engaged to search for the officer throughout last night, including on the route that Ridhaudden was believed to have taken. – Bernama, May 25, 2023