By Nancy Nais
BAU, March 24: Three men who went to an abandoned gold mine in Gunung Tabai yesterday have failed to return home, triggering a search and rescue which is currently on-going.
The trio left their home yesterday as early as 5.30am but had failed to inform anyone of their planned trip to the old gold mine.
The Sarawak Fire and Rescue (Bomba) Department Operations Centre in a statement today said rescuers are now scouring the area to look for the three missing men.
The Fire Department received an emergency call at 9.10am that a man identified as Mat Tapa, 25, has gone missing in Gunung Tabai.
“As at 10.45am, with the help of villagers, we marked the area and confirmed that there were three men trapped in the cave.
“One of them was buried in a hole while two others were stuck in the same hole,” Bau fire station chief PKPgB Tawang Lingem said.
“The hole in the cave has been identified as the one which people usually frequent to dig up gold nuggets,” he added.
He also said that the cave is a restricted area.
At 11.20am, rescuers reported that they saw a human hand in the hole.
The joint rescue operation with villagers is still underway. – DayakDaily
