Australian tourist Andrew Gaskell, who was rescued on Tuesday after he went missing at the Mulu National Park two weeks ago, had reportedly deviated from the approved routes, which led to him getting lost.
District police chief Deputy Superintendent Gabriel Lisut told The New Straits Times that the 25-year-old engineer had used a route which was never used by other hikers.
That reportedly caused Andrew to lose his bearings and he failed to retrace his steps.
“We were also informed that he (Gaskell) did not appear to completely take in the briefing given before scaling the park’s slopes,” Gabriel was quoted as saying.
On October 18, Andrew reportedly set off on a solo trekking adventure into the Mulu National Park, famous for its vast network of caves, underground rivers, steep mountains and sharp limestone rocks.
When his family members failed to get in touch with him, they reported him missing to the Tasmania Police on October 27.
More than 60 search and rescue personnel from the Fire and Rescue Department, the civil defence department, Sarawak Forestry rangers as well as the police reportedly took part in the operation, combing three different locations at the Mulu Summit, Racers Cave and Bukit Susu.
On Tuesday, the team found him in a section of the forest known as ‘Hidden Valley’.
