SIK: A man found himself lost for more than six hours in a rubber and oil palm plantation in Felda Teloi Kanan, here, after relying on the Waze navigation application to get back to his brother's house in Sungai Petani.
The 32-year-old victim, who had been visiting a friend's house in Sungai Lalang, Sungai Petani, around 1am, ended up lost after relying on the said navigation application.
Hence, he reached out to the Fire and Rescue Department after futile attempts to locate telecommunication network coverage in the vicinity around 7am.
Sik Fire and Rescue Station chief Zulkhairi Mat Tanjil said a team was promptly dispatched to rescue the individual upon receiving the distress call.
He said that they found the victim in a weakened state at 8.10am today.
"Based on the information provided by the victim who was riding a Honda RS motorcycle alone, he did not anticipate getting lost to the extent of ending up in the rubber and oil palm plantation.
"This is because he solely relied on the Waze app to return to his brother's house in Sungai Petani but ended up being lost more than 10 kilometers away from the main road," he said when contacted today.
Zulkhairi said that the individual claimed to have become lost, and his vision was impaired, leading to panic and futile attempts to find an exit.
He said the victim then navigated through muddy and gravel paths, eventually giving up and attempted to contact the Fire and Rescue Department, but faced difficulty due to poor network coverage.
"However, he only managed to reach out to us at 7am today after relentlessly searching for network coverage.
"The victim claimed to have heard sounds of wild animals and felt like he was being followed by a predator while in the rubber and oil palm plantation but accepted what had happened," he added.
Zulkhairi said the victim was trembling and tearful upon the arrival of the Fire and Rescue team at the scene.
He said that the victim was not injured but had minor wounds.
"The victim was then transported to Teloi Timur Health Clinic for further treatment," he added.