Patrick Igih Mohd Taufik
KUCHING: The second day of the search and rescue (SAR) operation to find a missing 3-year-old boy at the Rapak Baru oil palm plantation in Pantu, Sri Aman was called off at 6pm yesterday.
The boy identified as Patrick Igih Mohd Taufik went missing since 9.30am on March 4.
According to the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba), the operation yesterday was mounted by 53 personnel from different agencies, the Sarawak Bomba K9 unit and 20 villagers.
The search which started at 9am was conducted within a 6km radius from where the boy was last seen.
At 2pm, the search radius was reduced to a 3km radius.
The search was conducted within the plantation, along the nearby river and hilly areas.
Bomba on March 4 said the boy was brought to the plantation by his father and his grandfather who are working as guides for a team from Sarawak Forestry Corporation.
Due to the difficulty of the terrain, the boy’s father decided that the boy be left at a hut, located some 200 metres from where they had parked their motorcycle.
The hut where the boy was left alone on the day of his disappearance.
As the trees are located some 1km away from the hut, it is unclear as to how long the boy was left alone.
He was only discovered missing by the grandfather who returned to the hut to collect a signboard that is used to tag the trees.
A witness who was tending to a paddy field nearby claimed that he saw the boy making his way alone towards where the father had parked his motorcycle.
Meanwhile, a ‘Nur Alert’ has been issued for the missing boy at http://knk2hilang.rmp.gov.my/MissingPerson/MpDetail?id=180428.