Disappearance of Irish girl raises questions

The disappearance of an Irish teenager since yesterday at The Dusun resort in Nilai has not only gained widespread coverage in the local and international media, but also raised questions.

Locals were puzzled by the possibility that the 15-year-old girl, who has special needs, could have strayed from the resort.

"This is the first case of a missing person at this resort because if you heard the case of missing trekker in Gunung Berembun, it’s normal,” Kampung Kolam Air Pantai tok batin(village head) Ali Ngongor told Bernama today.

Ali, who is joining the search and rescue (SAR) mission, said it was impossible for the teenager to get into the thick jungle, let alone survive for a long time.

"But there is also possibility of mystical elements. The resort is not monitored, it’s all at one's own risk,” he said.

The Dusun, located 16km from the town of Seremban, is a private nature resort that begins with a durian orchard before being planted with a variety of trees and developed into a resort and opened to the public in 2009 with two houses or chalets.

International media practitioner Mohd Syawaluddin Mohd Zin said the disappearance of Nora Anne Quoirin, had drawn the attention of the international community.

"What's more, she's a special child," he said adding that he had to commute from Kuala Lumpur to here to get coverage.

Negeri Sembilan deputy police chief SAC Che Zakaria Othman when met by Bernama at the scene said the number of SAR team members had increased to 168 compared to 159 this morning.

"The tracker unit of Senoi Praaq has also been mobilised and so far there has been no clue and no element of foul play," he said, adding that the area of the search was extended to 12km from the resort.

Meanwhile, Negeri Sembilan Women Affairs, Family and Welfare Committee chairman Nicole Tan Lee Koon said efforts to meet the victim’s family members had been to no avail as they were not ready to receive guests.

"I have tried to meet the parents of the missing girl but they do not want to see anyone for now," she said.

Checks by Bernama found that some foreign tourists also helped to find the missing teenager and aerial search was being conducted by the police.

The media reported that the teenager’s parents awoke on Sunday morning to find their daughter missing from her bedroom at the resort.

- Bernama