China Daily Global Edition (USA)

Girl’s family mourn ‘unbearable’ loss to them

- By JULIAN SHEA in London Julian@mail.chinadaily­uk.com

Relatives of Nora Quoirin, found dead at a jungle resort in Malaysia nine days after going missing, have said their “hearts are broken” and “the cruelty of her being taken away is unbearable”.

The body of the 15-year-old, who lived in London, was found by a waterfall 1.6 kilometers from the Dunsun resort where she had arrived with her family for a twoweek holiday on Aug 3. Her father is French and her mother Irish.

“Nora has brought people together, especially from France, Ireland, Britain and Malaysia, united in their love and support for her and her family,” said a statement issued by her family. “She has truly touched the whole world.”

Nora had special needs, having been born with brain developmen­t disorder holoprosen­cephaly, and was described by her family as “not independen­t and does not go anywhere alone”. No cause of death has yet been establishe­d, but a medical examinatio­n is due to take place.

She was found near a waterfall she had been looking forward to visiting, in what Malaysia’s deputy police chief, Mazlan Mansor, said was a “quite hilly” plantation area. She was not wearing any clothing when her body was discovered, reportedly by a volunteer from the Seremban Hiking Club, part of a group of 350 people who helped with the search.

The alarm was raised on the morning of Aug 4 when a window was found open in the room Nora was sharing with her siblings at the Seremban resort, around 60 kilometers south of the capital Kuala Lumpur, and she was reported missing. The early reaction of local police was that there was no sign of foul play, but the family said she had been abducted.

The family’s lawyer, Sankara Naire, thanked those who had helped in the search. “The family and I wish to express our greatest gratitude to the police and all the authoritie­s involved in this search,” he said.

“It is a highly traumatic situation. It’s the loss of a daughter and child and naturally traumatic levels are very high. I think they are still pondering on the next course of action, because they are so overcome by grief and I think it is not in their mind yet.”

Family members raised more than $138,000 to cover the cost of the search, and her parents put up a reward of 50,000 Malaysian ringgit ($11,900) for help in finding their daughter.

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the Quoirins were experienci­ng “every family’s worst nightmare”.

“Our thoughts and sincere condolence­s are with Nora Quoirin’s parents, siblings and wider family at this unimaginab­ly difficult time,” he tweeted.

“They have experience­d every family’s worst nightmare. I’d like to pay tribute to everyone who searched for Nora. May she rest in peace.”

 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States