Missing Orang Asli pupils: Don't play the blame game, says Mustapa

The International Trade and Industry Minister said instead, all parties should work together as the investigation and search for the children by rescuers are still underway.

He expressed relief that two pupils have since been found. He suggested a complete probe and study be carried out on the case.

“There must be a study to explain why this happened, and why did the search take two months? There has never been such a search this long before.

“At this stage, we cannot blame anyone because all we’ve been hearing are assumptions. A thorough investigation is needed to know the actual cause. What’s important is, we don’t want such cases to repeat,” he said after officiating the state-level National Sports Day here today.

MUST READ: Chronology: Mystery of 7 missing Orang Asli students in Pos Tohoi, Gua Musang

Mustapa, who is also Kelantan UMNO liaison chairman, was commenting on the frustration expressed by the Orang Asli community, particularly the parents of the children involved, who had blamed the school and rescuers for the incident and the late find.

The pupils had gone missing since Aug 23, after they ran away from their dorms for fear of being reprimanded for bathing in the river without permission.

MUST READ: “In my dream, an elderly person had approached and said that Noreen is not my child and that she belongs to someone else." - Mother of Norieen Yaakob

Today, rescuers found a full skeleton by the Sungai Perias riverbank, close to where the two girls were found yesterday. The remains were brought to the Gua Musang Hospital for a post-mortem.

Before this, an unidentified skeleton and remains of two bodies were also found. The bodies were later identified as Sasa Sobrie, eight, and Ika Ayel, nine.

Those yet to be accounted for are Juvina David, seven, Linda Rosli, eight, and Haikal Yaakob, eight.