IPOH: The body of a 66-year-old senior citizen who died while hiking at Gunung Yong Belar near here was brought down using a helicopter.
A Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said the helicopter took off from the General Operations Force field in Ulu Kinta at about 9.22am on Thursday (May 19).
"The helicopter landed back at the same field at about 1.30pm, and the victim’s body was handed over to the police," he said.
On Wednesday (May 18) Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad had said that the man was part of a group of 14 hikers from Selangor.
He had said 11 hikers safely made the descent to the foot of the mountain but three stopped for a while, believed to be due to exhaustion, and the dead hiker is believed to have passed away at around 8.30pm.
"After the victim died, the two (surviving) hikers climbed down and reached the foot of the mountain at Lojing in Kelantan as it was nearer compared to (the base in) Perak to report the matter," he said.
Gunung Yong Belar is located along Banjaran Titiwangsa that lies between Perak and Kelantan.
