TAPAH: A man, who was seriously injured following an accident, had to crawl for three days before he finally found finally found an Orang Asli village.
In the accident that occurred around 3pm on Sunday at Km62.8 Jalan Ipoh - Kuala Lumpur near Bidor, the car driven by A. Nicholas Andrew, 33, had landed in a 20m ravine.
Nicholas, who suffered a broken right arm and leg, was forced to crawl along the stream to get help. His friend R. Thiyagarajan, 34, was killed at the scene.
Nicholas said he only drank water from the stream and slept under trees in the past three days.
"At the time of incident, I was on my way home after sending my brother’s wedding cards. However upon arrival at the scene, I lost control of my car before it ended in the ravine,” he said.
"When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying outside the car. I tried calling out to my friend but there was no response," he added when met at the Teluk Intan Hospital near here today.
He said he attempted to climb up the ravine to seek help but failed due to the pain from his injuries.
"I then decided to crawl to get help,” he said.
Nicholas said he was unsure how many days he had crawled before he found the Orang Asli village.
"I screamed for help when I saw the villagers and they rushed over to help me,” added Nicholas, who worked at the Territorial Army Camp in Teluk Intan.
Meanwhile, Tapah district police chief Superintendent Som Sak Din Keliaw said police was informed of the matter at 4.45pm on Wednesday and enlisted the assistance of the Fire and Rescue Department to retrieve Thiyagarajan’s remains and was sent to the Tapah Hospital mortuary for post-mortem. Nicholas was admitted to the same hospital for treatment.
He was later referred to Teluk Intan Hospital.
Bidor Fire and Rescue Department chief A. Ravi said the department was informed of the matter at 5pm.
“We used a hydraulic cutter to release the victim from the vehicle,” he said.
Rescue operations were completed at 7pm, he added.
Families of both victims had lodged a missing person report at Tapah station on Sunday.