LUNDU: Rescue teams will employ alternative strategies in the search and rescue (SAR) efforts to locate the victim who was attacked by a crocodile in Kampung Sungai Rayu on Wednesday evening (Apr 17).
Lundu district traffic officer (operations field officer) Inspector Benjamin Annau Kalom said the agencies involved will begin searching in the nearby river branches to track down the lair of the wild animal.
He said local residents from three nearby villages would also assist in locating the whereabouts of the victim.
“For this second day of SAR, we will try to enter smaller rivers. Because yesterday we covered the main river.
“From past experience, we fear that the crocodile may have taken the victim into smaller streams.
“A total of 45 personnel are involved. Later, we will request additional assistance from the villagers. And the villagers’ boats will also be used to facilitate our entry into the smaller rivers,” he told reporters at the Search and Rescue (SAR) operations centre after being briefed on the operation to look for the crocodile victim at Kampung Sungai Rayu here, today.
During the second-day of the SAR rescue, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri was also present to get further updates on the operation.
Benjamin said the SAR team would also track the victim on land and in downstream river areas.
He added that the personnel involved would be equipped with firearms for safety and assured that the team would do their best.
For the record, a SAR operation was launched for Minu Khien, a 76-year-old woman who is feared to have been snatched by a crocodile in Sungai Rayu, on Wednesday (Apr 17).
Minu, accompanied by her 54-year-old daughter, was gathering clams when the daughter, situated in another part of the river, heard her mother’s screams.
Convinced that Minu had fallen victim to a crocodile attack and been dragged into the river, the daughter hurried back to Kampung Sungai Belian to alert other family members.
The family then initiated a search, uncovering bloodstains approximately 500 metres from the Kampung Sungai Rayu bridge, along with the victim’s attire some 200 metres downstream.
Also joining in the search were personnel from the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba), Civil Defence Force (APM), Sarawak Forestry Corporation, People’s Volunteer Corps, Lundu district office, and local villagers.
