Compiled by C.ARUNO, NAN HIDAYAT NAN AZMIE and R. ARAVINTHAN
A MASSIVE manhunt for an 11-year-old boy in China’s Yunnan province ended days later when sniffer dogs located him hiding in a nearby empty house, Sin Chew Daily reported.
The incident began on July 23 in Zhatong city when the boy ran away from home because his grandmother had scolded him for not helping to collect dried beans.
CCTV footage showed the boy walking towards a cornfield after leaving home.
Worried that the boy had gone missing, his family launched a search for the child with the help of local emergency responders, police officers, villagers and even the boy’s teachers and classmates.
It was not until July 28 that police deployed sniffer dogs, which picked up the boy’s trail heading to a neighbour’s house.
Officers found the boy inside the house.
Despite having lost some weight, he was in good physical and mental condition.
According to a family member, the neighbour’s family had gone on holiday, and the boy had deliberately chosen to hide from the search party.
He kept himself fed by cooking instant noodles and fried potatoes.
Whenever he had to go out, he would pick secluded paths outside of the range of CCTV cameras. He chose to remain hidden, as he was aware that he would be scolded again if he were found, said a family member.
It was reported that his father had gone missing for many years. His mother is working in Zhejiang province, some 2,000km east of Yunnan.
When he disappeared, the grandmother was overwhelmed with guilt and reportedly lost her appetite for several days.
> In a freak accident, an elderly South Korean woman choked to death after eating a steamed bun for breakfast at a care facility in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China Press reported.
The 70-year-old, whose surname was Tan, lived alone in Taiwan for many years and had no family there with her.
She lived in a care facility for the underprivileged in the Gangshan district.
At around 7.40am on Saturday, she was having breakfast at the dining area when she accidentally choked on the bun.
Other residents noticed she was in distress and immediately administered first aid while contacting emergency services.
Paramedics arrived shortly and took her to hospital for treatment.
However, after suffering prolonged oxygen deprivation, she was pronounced dead despite efforts to resuscitate her at hospital.
(The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.)
