IPOH, Sept 23 — The search and rescue (SAR) operation to locate two quarry workers buried in a rockfall at the quarry site in Keramat Pulai near here has been called off yesterday after the discovery of clothing and fragments of human bones including a second excavator on Wednesday.
Perak police chief Datuk Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said all the bones were sent to the Forensic Department of Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital (HRPB) for autopsy and DNA testing to verify the identity of the skeletal remains.
“With the discovery of two machine wreckages, clothes and pieces of bone believed to belong to the two victims who were reported missing on March 8, the SAR operation at the scene has been terminated.
“The second excavator was successfully removed from the scene at 5.20pm and the operation ended at 6pm,” he said in a statement yesterday.
The operation led by Ipoh district police chief Yahaya Hassan was also assisted by 14 officers and personnel from the state Fire and Rescue (JBPM) operations division, as well as the Simpang Pulai Fire and Rescue Station along with police cooperation and the Perak Department of Minerals and Geoscience.
Perak JBPM director Azmi Osman was reported to have said that pieces of bones and clothes and the remains of an excavator were found by the SAR team at 11.45am on Tuesday.
In a rockfall on March 8, two quarry workers identified as Itam Lasoh, 43, and Kheow Loo Siew Soon, 49, were buried under a rubble of rock debris.
— Bernama
