Two elderly men lost in forest reserve rescued

GRIK: Two men went missing for nearly 10 hours after they went into a forest reserve near Pengkalan Hulu on Tuesday. 

Tan Swee Kan, 76, and Abdul Rahman Ahmad, 53, had gone into the Bukit Buloh forest reserve, on the fringes of the border town, at about 1pm. 

At 7.30pm when they still had not returned home, a family member of one of the men, went to the Pengkalan Hulu police station to make a report. 

A 17-men search and rescue party, comprising policemen, firemen and soldiers from the 18th Battalion of the General Operation Force, then set out to look for them. 

With a cell phone number given by one of the men’s relative, the rescuers contacted the two men and told them to climb up to the highest hill in the area and light a bonfire. 

Hulu Perak deputy OCPD, Deputy Supt Abd Rahim Hamzah, said the search party found the two at about 10.30pm. 

He advised those intending to make excursions into the jungle to inform the nearest police. 

DSP Abd Rahim said he did not know why the two men had gone into the jungle. 

He believed they lost their way during heavy rain in the area.