GERIK: A woman was left devastated as she saw her husband being attacked and then dragged away by a tiger before his lifeless body was found in a forested area near Bersia here today.
Perak police chief Datuk Azizi Mat Aris said the body of the 54-year-old victim was found with severe injuries to his left leg and neck around noon, about 100 metres from the workers' quarters where he was staying.
He said police were alerted to the tiger attack incident at KM79.2 of the East-West Highway (JRTB) Gerik-Jeli at 8.25am.
"We received information about a man being mauled by a tiger while heading to the toilet at the workers' quarters in Bagan Balak. The incident was witnessed by a Thai woman who is the victim's wife.
"The incident is believed to have taken place about 5am today. As the victim was heading to the toilet, his wife heard a tiger's roar, and when she opened the door to their quarters, she saw a tiger dragging her husband into the bushes," he said.
Azizi added that police and 10 members of the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) reached the location at 10.30am to begin a search operation.
"It takes roughly two hours to reach the location from Gerik, depending on road and weather conditions.
"At around noon, the victim's body was found near the quarters where they were staying, with severe injuries to his left leg and neck," he said.
Azizi said that the case was classified as sudden death. The victim's body was handed over to the police for post-mortem at the Forensic Unit of Gerik Hospital.
Perak Perhilitan Director Yusoff Shariff confirmed receiving a report on the incident in the forested area near Bersia today.