Remains of four Orang Asli found in Kuala Koh

Authorities sweeping the area around the Kuala Koh Orang Asli village in Gua Musang have found the remains of four Orang Asli from the Bateq tribe.

The four are part of the 12 members the tribe claimed to have died in the last month due to a mysterious disease.

According to sources, the four bodies were found between 4.30pm and 6pm yesterday.

"The search teams managed to locate the four Bateq remains which were treated in accordance to traditional last rites," the source said on condition of anonymity.

Authorities have also identified the site of the other eight bodies as at 8.30am today.

However, the sources said the remains were in pieces as the last rites in accordance with Bateq customs involve hanging or storing the bodies on trees.

It is unclear if the bodies' condition will be sufficient to conduct tests.

Gua Musang district police chief Mohd Taufik Maidin, when contacted, did not confirm that the bodies have been found but said a press conference would be called soon.

In total, 14 people from the tribe were believed to have died from a mysterious illness but only two bodies, on which autopsy was conducted, could be confirmed.

Previously, state authorities were reluctant to acknowledge the other 12 deaths as being caused by the unknown illness as they were not in possession of the remains and could not conduct a post-mortem.

Subsequently, the authorities made the decision to recover the bodies for post-mortem.

On Tuesday, Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said preliminary analysis based on X-ray from the two bodies which were retrieved earlier suggested that they died due to an infection.

"Based on just the X-ray, you see lobar pneumonia... (If it is) chemical, you will have interstitial patches on the X-ray, but here you see lobar pneumonia that is typical of pathogens," he had said.

However, Dzulkefly said authorities are still waiting for lab test to determine if the infection was viral or bacterial. - Mkini