Missing boys found 20km from school
KUALA TERENGGANU: Two 10-year-old boys walked for hours from Pasir Panjang, hoping to reach Stadium Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin in Gong Badak, 20km away, without informing their parents.
When they failed to return from school on Saturday, a search was mounted for the “missing” Year Four pupils of SK Pasir Panjang here.
News of their “disappearance” went viral online.
But as their parents, villagers and personnel from the Civil Defence Department hunted high and low for the schoolboys, a Good Samaritan, known only as Kak Ros, showed up with Wan Noraiman Haikal Wan Saifuddin Hafiz and Muhammad Fakhrullah Mohd Fahimie hours later.
Kak Ros found the boys and fed them before hearing that they were the “missing kids” whose photos had gone viral.
On Saturday morning, the two boys had gone to school for a National Sports Day event but decided to leave early to catch a sprint test competition at the stadium in Gong Badak.
They had no extra money to take a bus or taxi so they went on foot, not realising the 20km distance ahead. And their families were unaware of their “outing”.
It was only when Muhammad Fakhrullah’s mother, Nurul Farhana Saiefie, 32, went to look for him that she was told her son was not in school. But by 7pm when he did not come home, a police report was lodged.
Nurul Farhana, when met yesterday at her house, said she was surprised by her son’s action.
“He has never done this before. When he arrived home (at about 10pm), he looked really confused,” she said.
According to Nurul Farhana, Kak Ros had seen the duo around the Gong Badak area looking lost and tired. She then offered to take the boys home.
“They were hungry and Kak Ros gave them food.
“They told her that they were from Pasir Panjang and had no idea how to get home,” she said.
It was then that Kak Ros’ sister realised that they were the boys whose disappearance had gone viral on social media.
Kak Ros then sent them back to their school before they were taken to the police station.
Wan Noraiman Haikal’s grandmother Rahmah Embong, 74, too, said she was puzzled by what the boys had done.
“We are just glad that the episode did not end with any untoward incidents, and that they are home safe,” she said.