Police have launched a search operation for 33 climbers who are believed to have gone missing after they failed to return from an expedition up Mount Brik in Kampung Tringus Brik in Sarawak.
Malay Mail reported that a State Fire and Rescue Department spokesperson said that the 33 climbers were part of the trekking expedition organised a club for climbers and were supposed to come down on 11 December.
An individual identified as Royling Ken lodged the report about the incident at the Bau District Police headquarters at around 8 am on 12 December. The department immediately deployed a team of firefighters at the site to conduct a search-and-rescue operation, said the spokesperson, according to the news website.
Moreover, the spokesperson said that a Special Tactical Operations Response Management (STORM) team and an elite Multi Skill Team (MUST) are likely to assist the firefighters' team in the search operation. Also, People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) and villagers are also notified to join in the effort to locate the climbers. It takes around six hours to reach the location on the mountain where the climbers are feared to have gone missing.
On the very same day, two Nigerian students went missing after a boat they were travelling in capsized in Tasik Taman Negara Loagan Bunut in Sarawak. Five students, including the skipper of a private university in Miri, were saved after the accident; however, there has been no news about the two missing students.
