SAR ops underway for Australian woman feared fallen on Mt Santubong

The SAR team being briefed on the rescue mission for an Australian woman who was feared to have fallen while descending from Mount Santubong on April 23, 2026. Photo: Bomba

By DayakDaily Team

KUCHING, Apr 24: A search and rescue (SAR) operation is underway to locate an Australian woman who was feared to have fallen while descending from Mount Santubong on Thursday (Apr 23).

According to a report from the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba), a call was received at 8.20pm, and firefighters from the Petra Jaya station were deployed.

Upon arrival, it was informed that the victim, Belinda Lapier, was feared to have fallen in the F7 area, and at around 5pm, forest rangers managed to contact the victim and conducted a search at her last known location.

However, the team could only hear her voice and could not determine her exact location, and the rangers returned to their post at 5.30pm.

The police were then called in to assist in the search for the victim with the rangers at 12.15am, yet they were still unable to locate the victim, causing the team to redirect the search to a nearby orchard to track the victim’s whereabouts as she could no longer be contacted.

At 12.48am, the victim was successfully contacted again, and she provided her current location, whereby a team of five firefighters, five forest rangers, and one police officer proceeded towards via an off-trail route.

“It is believed that the victim had deviated from the original hiking trail. Search efforts are now focused on the off-trail area,” said the report.

However, at 2am, it was reported that obstacles along the route hindered their efforts. They were still able to communicate with the victim, who gave updates on her condition, and added that she was safe but experiencing difficulty exiting the area.

Later at 3.30am, the operation was suspended due to numerous obstacles such as rocks and large trees, as well as darkness, and resumed today. — DayakDaily