wasn't the update i was expecting...but...

Just got the news that yi ling from Raleigh-Alpha met an accident all the way in Sabah during her expedition. And the British volunteer died! This is so unfair man. Here's the Star article:

Tuesday April 24, 2007
Official of British-based volunteer group dies in accident
SANDAKAN: An official of the British-based volunteer group was killed in a traffic mishap late Monday.
Briton Toby Eaton-Baudains, 29, a Raleigh International project manager, died when a van he was travelling in crashed into the rear of a Public Works Department lorry at Sukau in Kinabatangan, some 80km from here.
Two other Raleigh International volunteers, Malaysian Siaw Yi Ling, 19 and Briton Matthew Fernandez, 19, were injured in the 7.30pm accident.
Kinabatangan district police Deputy Supt Jaini Abdul Kadir said the three were among a group of Raleigh International volunteers and officials comprising three Malaysians, one Dutch and seven Britons in the van.
He said Tuesday that the group was returning to Batu Putih in Kinabatangan after visiting the renowned orang utan centre in Sepilok.
He said Eaton-Baudains was sitting in the front passenger seat of the van was killed on the spot while Siaw of Kuala Lumpur, suffered a fractured leg and Hill sustained injuries to his face and neck.
“The remaining eight members of the team sustained minor cuts and were sent to the Kinabatangan district hospital for treatment.
“The van driver, aged 60, who is unhurt, has been detained to facilitate investigation,” he said.
DSP Jaini said the group had spent six days in Batu Putih where they had completed a bridge project.
On Monday, they decided to visit Sepilok.
“The spot where the accident occurred is just after the junction to Sukau and it is very dark at night as there are no streetlights along the stretch of the road”, he added.
The tyres of the sand-laden lorry had earlier became stuck in a mud patch and the vehicle had just been pulled out onto the road, he said.
As the lorry driver was getting ready to leave the area the van crashed into the rear of his vehicle, DSP Jaini added.
Firemen from the Sandakan Zone Fire and Rescue Department were called to the scene help extricate the Eaton-Baudains’ body from the wreckage.
Kinabatangan police later sent his body to the Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan for a post-mortem, he said.
Eaton-Baudains was among the 139 Raleigh International staff and volunteers involved in a series of seven community, conservation and adventure-related projects in Sabah from February to May.
According to the Raleigh International website, www.raleighinternational.org, Eaton-Baudains was one of the two managers for Alpha 6 project where youth volunteers were assisting in the development of a community eco-tourism project Tungog oxbow lake in the lower Kinabatangan.
Among others, the volunteers were helping the local community in the construction of a lodge, cutting out trails and erecting bird- hides as well as removing an invasive weed called Salvinia or locally known as katong katong from the scenic oxbow lake.

These are people who've worked so hard to fundraise thousands of ringgits just to get there and help the community, especially the Britons who flew half way across the globe. It is just not fair that this has happened to them. Elias said that the place was a common accident area.

Yi Ling's currently in Pantai Hospital suffering multiple injuries. Get well soon!