WELLINGTON, Oct 3 – A Malaysian national holidaying in New Zealand is believed to be missing after he had not returned and checked out from a youth hostel in Aoraki Mount Cook Village, South Island, since last Tuesday.
The Second Secretary at the Malaysian High Commission here, Dzulkefly Mustapha, said Wong Ling Kok, 32, from Taman Bunga Negara, Section 27, Shah Alam, Selangor, was last seen at 4 pm (New Zealand time), last Wednesday.
The local police, who were informed that Wong had not checked out from the hostel after registering last Tuesday, had mounted a search and rescue operation since Thursday and stopped the effort on Friday afternoon, he told Bernama, here today.
“The search and rescue efforts were carried out in the Southern Alps area, a popular area for those who love tramping,” he said.
He said police had interviewed visitors to the area to gather information before deciding to stop the search and rescue operation.
Police also found a bag belonging to Wong and several personal items in the room rented by the Malaysian, he said.
Dzulkefly said Wong was scheduled to have checked out from the hostel on Thursday, and return to Malaysia by flight from Christchurch, New Zealand to Melbourne, Australia.
The High Commission had informed Wisma Putra about Wong’s disappearance on Thursday as well as Wong’s family in Malaysia through his elder sister, Wong Fui Men, early Friday morning, he said.
Meanwhile, Malaysian High Commissioner to New Zealand Datuk Hasnudin Hamzah said the High Commission would render all assistance to Wong’s family if they wished to come here.
He said Wong’s elder sister had informed them that she might travel to New Zealand.
The New Zealand Press Association (NZPA) reported that the police called off the search for the Malaysian missing in the Southern Alps, who is now presumed dead.
“He was lightly clad and it appeared he may have got into trouble on the first night and perished quite early from hypothermia,” said the incident controller, Senior Constable Brent Swanson of Lake Takepo police.
NZPA also reported that Swanson said the search would be re-activated if further information came to light.
Swanson was also reported saying that they received the medical advice that to have survived the 48 hours would have been slim and “once he gets beyond the 48 hours, basically he would perish by then if he is in the area”. – Bernama
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