SEREMBAN: A massive search and rescue (SAR) operation is under way to locate an Irish teenager reported missing on Sunday.
Negri Sembilan deputy police chief SAC Che Zakaria Othman said 159 rescuers comprising policemen and fire fighters as well as personnel of the Malaysian Civil Defence Force, Rela and Forestry Department and several local residents have joined in the search for 15-year-old Nora Anne Quoirin.
“We have also widened the search to cover the forest and settlements in the area,” he said.
He said the police had already combed a 4.9ha area and were expected to cover more ground as the search continued.
He told a press conference at the Pantai police station here that the 4th Battalion of the General Operations Force (GOF) based in Cheras also sent a team to assist in the search.
Che Zakaria said the military and forestry personnel as well as the Orang Asli would cover the forest areas and the other rescuers would focus on the settlements and the surrounding beaches.
He also appealed to anyone who had information about the teenager or had made contact with her to reach out to the police.
Quoirin arrived in Malaysia with her parents and two siblings on Saturday for a two-week “trip of a lifetime”. But in the wee hours of Sunday, her parents could not find her when they walked into her room, a family friend was reported to have told an international tabloid.
