Lost hikers at Gunung Panti found safe

KOTA TINGGI: Two men and a woman who were believed to have lost their way while trekking down Gunung Panti here yesterday, were found safe last night, thanks to the location shared by one of them through the WhatsApp application.

Senior Fire Officer II Mohd Syukri Mohd Yusoff said the three hikers - Gan Chen Yang, 23, Yong Chin Cheng, 25, and Wong Zao Yi, 22, - were found at about 10 pm at a distance of 300 metres from the checkpoint of the two mountains, before being led to safety by the rescue team.

"The rescue team conducted a search with the help of other agencies using the location tracking method provided by the victim via the WhatsApp application.

"All the victims were found safe at a distance of 300 metres from the checkpoint of the two mountains before being handed over to the police for further action," he said in a statement early this morning.

Yesterday, one of the victims made a report to inform the authorities via phone that they have lost their way while descending Gunung Panti at about 4.53 pm.

Following that, a total of 10 rescue team members were deployed to the scene and it was understood that all three were experienced hikers and were used to trekking. The three had started their hiking at about 7 am and could still be contacted but could not find a way to get out of the mountain.

-- BERNAMA