A medical personnel preparing to transport a tired-looking Lau to the hospital.
SIBU: An elderly woman, reported missing while plucking ferns in a jungle at Jalan Deshon, was found unharmed yesterday afternoon.
Lau Hie Ming, 71, was located by a rescue team comprising family members, police, firemen, fellow churchgoers and relatives around noon.
Looking well albeit tired, the senior citizen was able to walk on her own as she exited the jungle with her rescuers prior to being sent to Sibu Hospital for a checkup.
Apart from planting some vegetables for her family’s consumption, Lau’s son said it was her afternoon routine to head into the jungle to pluck ferns.
Family members became worried when she failed to return home on Monday evening and lodged a missing person’s report around 7.20pm.
Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) personnel from the Sungai Merah fire station and local police were dispatched to the scene and began searching the area without success.
The search was called off later the same night and resumed at 8.30am yesterday.
A Bomba spokesperson said the rescue team managed to locate Lau about an hour later, roughly 300 metres from where she was believed to have gone missing.
Family members, meanwhile, thanked the rescuers for their help, saying they were touched by the commitment shown by Bomba and police during the course of the search.