![[UPDATED] 84-year-old lost hiker found unconscious in Perak jungle after over a week](https://media.thevibes.com/images/uploads/covers/_large/Lau_Sam-lost_Perak_hiker2-Lau_Sam_Fb.jpg)
IPOH – An elderly hiker who went missing more than a week ago while trekking through the jungle on Bukit Puncak Jelapang in Perak has been found unconscious by a rescue team.
A spokesman from the operations room of the Perak Fire and Rescue Department confirmed this latest development involving Lau Sam, 84, after days of scouring through the forested hill, Kosmo Online reported.
He was found at 2.14pm by two mountain guides beside a river at an altitude of 550m above sea level.
It is understood that efforts are being taken to bring the victim down the dense jungle.
Operations commander Sabarodzi Nor Ahmad said that his party was informed of the discovery by a mountain guide at 2.30pm.
He said nine members of the Special Tactical Operation and Rescue Team of Malaysia and six members of the Meru Raya Fire and Rescue Station were mobilised to the location to bring the victim down.
“Based on preliminary information, the victim was found unconscious by the river. The operation was launched immediately to bring the victim down.
“Efforts to carry him may take up to seven hours due to the geographical terrain of the forest with narrow, steep and hilly paths,” he was quoted as saying.
Lau went missing on the hill at 6.21pm on March 11. The other members of the hiking group he was in realised he was not following them after they noticed he had not arrived at the foot of the hill.
They then scaled back up along the path to look for him but to no avail.
A search and rescue operation conducted by the department since then failed to gain any trace of the man, and the authorities were forced to cease all official efforts.
Lau’s family offered a cash reward of RM10,000 to anyone who managed to locate him.
His son Lau Kok Gian, 48, pleaded for help from professional mountain guides.
He said besides being an active individual who is well acquainted with the hill trail, his father was healthy and had over twenty years of hiking experience.
“The RM10,000 reward will be given to anyone who finds my father, dead or alive. This offer is also applicable to rescue team members involved in the search,” Kosmo had quoted Kok Gian as saying to the press near the scene of the incident yesterday. – The Vibes, March 20, 2022
