Singaporean man goes missing while hiking in East Panti Forest Reserve
KOTA TINGGI: A Singaporean man lost his way and is still missing, while doing climbing activities in the Panti Timur Forest Reserve, here, yesterday.
Kota Tinggi District Police Chief, Superintendent Hussin Zamora said the individual was identified as Jason Ren Jie, 30s.
He said the victim was from China and is now a Singaporean.
“The police report was received from the victim’s friend at 3.26pm. The male friend, a local resident in his 30s, said they were hiking together before the victim disappeared from sight.
“At around 11.30am they both started climbing. But informed by the victim’s friend, at around 1pm they lost contact when the victim and his friend got separated at a location while climbing.
“The victim’s friend walked in front, while the victim was behind. However, after waiting for 30 minutes, the victim did not appear. The victim’s friend then tried to find the victim again but could not find him,” he said in a statement here today.
According to Hussin, acting on information, a team of senior officers and policemen from the Batu Ampat Police Station were moved to the scene of the incident to search for victims who were reported as lost.
He said, until now the victim has not been found and the search and rescue operation continued this morning.
“This search and rescue operation was also assisted by members from the Kota Tinggi Fire and Rescue Station (BBP) and the Forestry Department of the South Johor Region.
“The Kota Tinggi police advise people who intend to do climbing activities, especially in forest reserves, to obtain a permit first from the Kota Tinggi District Forestry Office.
“People also need to inform the nearest police station to avoid such incidents from happening again in the future,” he said
Last August 14, a Singaporean was also reported missing while climbing while climbing Gunung Panti Barat, Batu Ampat here. He was found safe the next day after managing to get out on his own.
source – Siti Nur Aqilla Omar
