Autorotate
15th Jul 2004, 05:17
Rescuers pick up distress signals from helicopter
MIRI: Rescuers have detected distress signals from a helicopter, believed to
be the one that carried Sarawak assistant minister Dr Judson Tagal and six
others before they went missing in the jungles of Borneo on Monday.
The emergency beacon signals, together with the discovery of a column of
smoke nearby, raised hopes yesterday that the seven men could be alive.
The signals from the helicopter could mean that its emergency location
transmitter was activated upon an impact or set off manually by those
possibly on board.
In another development, director of the rescue operations Tan Sri George
Chan, who is Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister, told a press conference in Bario
that a rescue team on a helicopter spotted a column of smoke at 5.30pm near
the Sarawak-Kalimantan border near Bario.
At press time, the rescue centre was trying to verify whether the smoke was
from the spot where the signals are coming from.
Search and rescue operations were intensified in the last 24 hours with
Indonesia and Singapore offering their help.
The distress signals were first
picked up by a Malaysia Airlines Twin Otter aircraft that was flying from
Miri to Bario at about 2.30pm.
Shortly after, a Hornbill Skyways search and rescue helicopter passing the
vicinity also detected the signal before a police air wing helicopter
received a similar signal.
The three signals were from a very forested terrain near the 2,424m Gunung
Murud, Sarawak's highest mountain just next to the Sarawak-Kalimantan
border.
On board the Bell 206 helicopter were Dr Judson, Sarawak Electricity Supply
Corporation (Sesco) chief executive officer Roger Wong, prominent
businessman Datuk Marcus Raja, Sesco northern Sarawak manager Ling Kian Ho,
Padawan Council chairman Lawrence Thng, Sesco officer Jason Eng and pilot
Captain Shamsudin Hassim.
Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang broke the news of
the signals at about 6pm at the Hornbill Skyways operation centre in Miri
Airport.
"The signals were picked up within the vicinity of Long Rabun, south-east of
Gunung Murud on the Malaysian side of the border.
"Search and rescue units on the ground are now zooming into the site.
"The site is estimated to be within 10 to 15 miles from Bakelalan village.
However, access is difficult, because the site is about 1,818m high. The
entire area is a primary jungle and the terrain is mountainous," he said.
He said the distress signals were very strong when they were detected but
became intermittent as time passed by.
Jabu said the authorities were confident that search and rescue teams and
army commandos on the ground would be able to reach the site by early today.
"They will trek through the night and will not stop until they reach the
location," he said.
He said rescue workers would be flown into the area at first light today
from Miri, Bario and Bakelalan armed with chainsaws, parang and other tools
to cut down trees and build a helipad as near as possible to the site.
He added that medical teams were on standby in Bario, Bakelalan and Miri.
"The signals are a positive sign. I am confident that we will have very good
news tomorrow (Thursday),'' he said.
MIRI: Rescuers have detected distress signals from a helicopter, believed to
be the one that carried Sarawak assistant minister Dr Judson Tagal and six
others before they went missing in the jungles of Borneo on Monday.
The emergency beacon signals, together with the discovery of a column of
smoke nearby, raised hopes yesterday that the seven men could be alive.
The signals from the helicopter could mean that its emergency location
transmitter was activated upon an impact or set off manually by those
possibly on board.
In another development, director of the rescue operations Tan Sri George
Chan, who is Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister, told a press conference in Bario
that a rescue team on a helicopter spotted a column of smoke at 5.30pm near
the Sarawak-Kalimantan border near Bario.
At press time, the rescue centre was trying to verify whether the smoke was
from the spot where the signals are coming from.
Search and rescue operations were intensified in the last 24 hours with
Indonesia and Singapore offering their help.
The distress signals were first
picked up by a Malaysia Airlines Twin Otter aircraft that was flying from
Miri to Bario at about 2.30pm.
Shortly after, a Hornbill Skyways search and rescue helicopter passing the
vicinity also detected the signal before a police air wing helicopter
received a similar signal.
The three signals were from a very forested terrain near the 2,424m Gunung
Murud, Sarawak's highest mountain just next to the Sarawak-Kalimantan
border.
On board the Bell 206 helicopter were Dr Judson, Sarawak Electricity Supply
Corporation (Sesco) chief executive officer Roger Wong, prominent
businessman Datuk Marcus Raja, Sesco northern Sarawak manager Ling Kian Ho,
Padawan Council chairman Lawrence Thng, Sesco officer Jason Eng and pilot
Captain Shamsudin Hassim.
Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang broke the news of
the signals at about 6pm at the Hornbill Skyways operation centre in Miri
Airport.
"The signals were picked up within the vicinity of Long Rabun, south-east of
Gunung Murud on the Malaysian side of the border.
"Search and rescue units on the ground are now zooming into the site.
"The site is estimated to be within 10 to 15 miles from Bakelalan village.
However, access is difficult, because the site is about 1,818m high. The
entire area is a primary jungle and the terrain is mountainous," he said.
He said the distress signals were very strong when they were detected but
became intermittent as time passed by.
Jabu said the authorities were confident that search and rescue teams and
army commandos on the ground would be able to reach the site by early today.
"They will trek through the night and will not stop until they reach the
location," he said.
He said rescue workers would be flown into the area at first light today
from Miri, Bario and Bakelalan armed with chainsaws, parang and other tools
to cut down trees and build a helipad as near as possible to the site.
He added that medical teams were on standby in Bario, Bakelalan and Miri.
"The signals are a positive sign. I am confident that we will have very good
news tomorrow (Thursday),'' he said.