BALING: The sister of Private Muhammad Syafiq Hilmi Abdul Halim, 22, says the family has not stopped praying for him since he got lost in the forest for 19 days,
"Thankfully he was found safe. Our prayers have been answered, thank you very much," said Syazwani Abdul Halim, 24.
She is the youngest sister of Syafiq Hilmi, 22, a member of the 7th Battalion of the Border Regiment who reportedly went missing while participating in an operation with the Survey and Mapping Department at the Malaysia-Brunei border in Limbang, Sarawak, on June 18.
Syafiq Hilmi was found safe by the search-and-rescue team (SAR) at 11.29am yesterday after 17 days of searching.
Syazwani said their mother, Zawiyah Salleh, 55, was flown to Sarawak by the armed forces at 8pm last night to meet her youngest son.
"Our father (Abdul Halim Abdul Kadir, 51) is ill, so only our mother went there. Yesterday, our family had a thanksgiving kenduri ," she said at her residence in Kuala Pegang here today.
A spokesman from the army's Eastern Field Army Headquarters said Syafiq Hilmi had tracked the trail markers placed around the search area until he was located by the forward operating base team.
He was found safe with his equipment and weapon intact, but weak due to hunger and dehydration, it added.