MIRI: A 59-year-old man, reported missing last Sunday while out on a fishing trip on the crocodile-infested Baram River, has been found dead.
The mutilated body of Minggu Ikum was discovered at around 1.45pm by a search and rescue team approximately 4km from the location where he was reported missing – a place named Batu 4 at Kuala Baram.
The Fire and Rescue Department, which spearheaded the SAR, reported that the body was found floating and bore all the marks of a crocodile attack.
The victim had reportedly gone to the river to check on a fishing net he had placed earlier. When he failed to return home at the expected time and did not answer phone calls, one of his children went to the river to look for him.
The victim's child found that he was nowhere around but discovered the victim's personal belongings on the riverbank, which showed signs of a crocodile's presence. To add to the suspicion that their father could be a victim of a crocodile attack, the fishing net that had been laid was found torn.
Meanwhile, 230km away in Tatau, Bintulu, the search for a 6-year-old girl from Kampung Seberang Pasar Lama, who was reportedly snatched by a crocodile while bathing in the river with her family, entered its sixth day today. The incident, which occurred at 6.30pm, was reportedly witnessed by the girl's grandfather.
The Fire and Rescue Department identified the girl as Cicilia Julan Intik.
The police, Civil Defence Department, and the custodians of Sarawak's wildlife, the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC), have contributed personnel to the search.