Joannes (left) and a relative, Felix, being interviewed after leaving the mortuary.
KOTA KINABALU: Mountain Torq staff Valerian Joannes, 27, was supposed to get married in November this year.
However, the earthquake in Ranau took him away from his fiancée and family.
Valerian, the fourth child among 10 siblings, was one of the staff who accompanied the Singaporean students on their excursion to Mount Kinabalu. His father, Joannes Lubak, 50, said his son had assured his colleague of his safety after the first tremor through walkie talkie, and he was rescuing the children.
But after that, Valerian was unreachable.
Joannes said this in an interview after leaving the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) mortuary here on Sunday.
Joannes was at Muar in Johor when he received the news of his son’s death, and till now, he still could not accept the
reality.
“His mother was devastated with the sudden passing of Valerian,” he said, adding that he received a call from the hospital about his son on Saturday night.
Joannes last saw Valerian at a family gathering on May 30 and he had reminded his son to be careful in his work.
Valerian’s body would be brought back to his village at Kampung Bundu Tuhan for burial.
Meanwhile, the body of five Singaporeans were flown back to the country in a Singapore Air Force plane on Sunday, including the body of 12-year-old Wee Ying Peony.
Wee was among the 29 pupils and eight teachers from the primary school who went on an overseas school trip to Mount Kinabalu.
Meanwhile, The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) vice president for inbound, Datuk Tan Kok Liang, also visited the families of victims at QEH yesterday afternoon to offer his condolences.
“Our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims.
“May God grant them peace and comfort as they go through this period of bereavement and sadness,” he said.
- Source: The Borneo Post
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