By DayakDaily Team
BARAM, Oct 5: The search and rescue (SAR) operation for 40-year-old Michael Asun Atang, who went missing while hunting in Kampung Long Laput on Sept 29, has been suspended as of 5pm yesterday (Oct 4).
Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) Marudi stated that the operation would resume only upon the discovery of new leads.
The authorities made this decision after discussions with the family, who plan to continue their search independently.
As the SAR operation entered its fifth day yesterday, the extensive search team consisted of firefighters, Long Lama police, Civil Defence Force (APM) personnel, and 40 local villagers.
One team focused on the riverbanks using five boats and included 16 villagers, covering Kampung Long Laput and extending towards the farm of the victim’s friend in the Pejin Kecil area.
Another team scoured the area around Kampung Long Laput toward the operation command post, utilising two 4WD vehicles to cover at least 12 kilometres and bypassing several caves along the way.
Search efforts have encountered significant challenges due to the remote location of the incident site, slippery logging roads worsened by rain, uneven terrain with potholes that hindered vehicle mobility, and dense forests with no communication networks.
The man had gone out hunting at around 1pm on Sept 27. While two of his friends returned to the village, the victim did not, prompting his family to lodge a police report on Sept 29.
The villagers’ efforts that day to locate the victim only ended up in them finding the victim’s clothes hanging on an oil palm tree.
The distance between the village and the location where the victim was hunting is around an hour and thirty minutes by foot. — DayakDaily
