REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PEKANBARU -- An Army soldier reportedly went missing while putting out land and forest fires at Pasir Putih village in Rokan Hilir district, Riau province, a spokesman said.

"We are continuing our search efforts by involving police personnel," Chief of Command Staff of the 031/Wirabima Military Resort, Colonel I Nyoman Parwata, said here on Friday.

The Army soldier who was deployed to extinguish the fire before August 17 went missing on Thursday evening shortly after he left the forest for the barrack along with four other colleagues, he noted. Realizing that their colleague had gone missing, the four soldiers let out shouts but received no response from him, he stated.

Ironically, when they called him on his mobile phone, the missing soldier answered the call, saying that he was perched atop a large tree, Parwata said. "At that time, he said he was atop a large tree, but they could not find him," he noted.

During the phone call, he said he could hear them shouting and could see them but they could not see him. Till Friday evening, the soldier was still missing.

Parwata said his side has made every effort to find him by coordinating with the Riau provincial police to trace the signal of his mobile phone.

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