The bone fragments found in the Gua Kandu area in Gopeng last Saturday have been confirmed to be human bones, police said today.

Kampar District police chief Supt Hasron Nazri Hashim said the confirmation was based on an autopsy report from the Forensics Department of the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh yesterday.

"Preliminary findings of the autopsy on the bone fragments confirm that they are human bones.

"The bone fragments have been sent to the Chemistry Department in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, for DNA tests, and the results can be known in two months or earlier,” he told a press conference at the Kampar District Police headquarters here.

He said the forensic examination was done because the place where the bone fragments were found was within the area where a search was conducted for Mohammad Ashraf Hassan, 29, who went missing during the Gopeng Ultra Trail (GUT) 2019 event on March 23.

Hasron Nazri said blood samples were taken from an older brother of Mohammad Ashraf at the Kampar Hospital yesterday and have been sent to the Chemistry Department in Petaling Jaya for DNA tests.

Last Sunday, Perak Police chief Datuk Razarudin Husain said several bone fragments, which included thigh bones, were found by villagers conducting a search for Mohammad Ashraf.

However, he said, a search by the police forensic unit at the scene failed to find any skull or skeleton.

- Bernama