KOTA KINABALU – About 30 firemen had to trek through the forest for five kilometres to save a man who has stuck on a tree while air surfing or paragliding in Bukit Kokol, Manggatal here yesterday.
In the 12 noon incident, the 35-year-old man only sustained light injuries despite being caught on a 30 metre tree in the area.
Lintas Fire and Rescue Department station chief Agustavia Joe Guasi said his team received a call regarding the incident at 12.12pm.
He said a team from Lintas fire station with the help from Sabah Fire and Rescue Department headquarters and a drone club were deployed to the location.
"The incident involved a man that was air surfing however, the victim had lost control of the parachute operated by him.
"Due to the incident, the victim was stuck on a 30 metre tree before he called for help and the firemen who rushed to the location had to trek around five kilometres in the forest from the main road to save the man,” he said in a statement.
He said the rescue effort to save the victim was conducted immediately with the help of drones to raise a cord to the tree.
"The victim lowered the cords to the ground and pulled the safety rope to bring him down from the tree.
"The victim was brought down at 10.13pm and he was given further treatments," he said.
The operations ended at 12.15am after the firemen confirmed the location was safe.