CIVIL Defence Force and Fire and Rescue Department personnel took about four hours to carry a 110kg youth down a hill in Bau, Sarawak, last night.

The 18-year-old student and a group of friends followed a popular hiking trail up Bung Muan, also known as Bukit Peninjau and Gunung Serumbu.

However, about halfway into the hike, the student complained of breathing difficulties.

His friends called for help when they could not assist him down the hill themselves.

The Fire and Rescue Department said it received a “special assistance” request at 3.20pm and despatched five men, led by officer Daniel Teo, from the Bau station.

The team and its guide set off from Kampung Podam – the village at the foot of the hill – to where the students were at about 4pm.

The students were reportedly about 4km in, and the firemen took two and a half hours to reach their location.

Eight Civil Defence Force officers and eight villagers also followed suit an hour later.

The department said the darkness, the narrow and steep trail and the weight of the student – who was later strapped to a stretcher – made the rescue mission difficult.

The student also suffers from obesity and heart issues, it added.

The team of rescuers reached the control base at the foot of the hill at about 10.20pm, while the other students reached the base two hours earlier.

The student’s brother, who was waiting at the control base, immediately drove him off to a private hospital in Kuching. – March 25, 2022.