M'sian found dead in Indonesia's Mount Rinjani

A Malaysian man was found dead in the Aik Kalak hot springs located in the vicinity of Mount Rinjani, an active volcano on Lombok Island yesterday.

He was identified as Ng Yin Teck, 21, from Johor.

Mount Rinjani has been declared a restricted area and hikers are prohibited from climbing the mountain as it has been producing hot ash and dust since September.

A spokesman of the West Nusa Tenggara Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) was quoted by online media as saying that based on information obtained, Ng had gone hiking with a German girlfriend, a porter and a mountain guide.

He said the Malaysian had not received permission from the Mount Rinjani National Park management to scale the mount.

The Mount Rinjani National Park management had closed all climbing routes on the mount since the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation issued a hazard warning, he added.

Ng and the trio began their climb through the Sembalun route in the East Lombok district early yesterday.

Upon reaching the hot springs at 12.30pm local time, Ng and his girlfriend spent about 30 minutes swimming in the area. However, the victim failed to surface, prompting the German woman to ask for public help.

According to the spokesman, Ng's body was found floating about 7pm when the search and rescue (SAR) operation was about to be halted due to darkness.

An operation to retrieve the victim's body was being carried out by the SAR team, he said.

The Malaysian Embassy's Consular and Immigration Division adviser, Kamalludin Ismail said the embassy was informed of the incident this morning.

He said based on preliminary information, Ng had gone to Lombok with his girlfriend for a holiday and mountaineering activities. -- BERNAMA