Trapped cabbie alive in Malaysian town, thanks to survival skills

SAFE AND SOUND Johar Kassim resting at the hospital in Kluang. The Star/ANN

KLUANG, Malaysia—As a former soldier, taxi driver Johar Kassim’s survival skills kicked in when he got trapped inside a 3m-deep ravine for three days after his car plunged down from a slope.

Death was never on his mind, said the 68-year-old father of four at his hospital bed yesterday.

“Old soldiers never give up. I always believed that it would be a matter of time before someone comes to my aid,” Johar said.

Recounting Tuesday’s incident in which he plunged down the slope while reversing his car in Taman Sri Kluang, Johar said: “I injured my leg while trying to climb up as the terrain was slippery due to rainfall in the area.”

“However, the rain was a blessing in disguise. It overflowed to a stream, which gave me water to survive for more than 48 hours,” he said.

He said he made numerous attempts to climb up but he kept sliding down.

With his skills that he picked up as a soldier of 22 years with the Malay Regiment, Johar built a shelter made up of tree branches.

“I did not move about much,” he said.

Johar, who is warded at the Enche’ Besar Hajjah Khalsom Hospital here, said his mobile phone was inside the taxi then but he could not reach for it due to the injury on his left leg.

On Thursday, an alert passer-by saw tyre marks on the road, prompting him to check it out and discovered Johar.

The firemen soon arrived at the scene.

Johar’s wife Murni Merdan, 47, said her husband had been on his way to their house at Jalan Haji Manan from his first wife’s house in Taman Seri Kluang that Tuesday.

Murni said she became worried when Johar did not reach their house that night.

“I called his handphone every minute but it went unanswered which prompted me to lodge a police report. I called all our friends to try look for him.”

“My prayers were answered when a friend of ours told me that my husband had been found and that he is well,” she said.

Murni, who works as a supervisor at a shopping mall, said she would cook his favourite curry for him once he is discharged from the hospital.

“But at the moment, he will have to eat biscuits and porridge as advised by the doctor,” she said.

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