KUALA LUMPUR — The group of hikers who discovered Nora Quoirin’s body on Tuesday (Aug 13) said they found her in a pose that resembled a person asleep.

Sharing the traumatic discovery, one of the hikers, Mr Sean Yeap, told British tabloid The Daily Mail that they spotted the Irish teen beside a stream with her head on her hands.

“It looked like she was sleeping, but we all knew she was dead,” Mr Yeap was quoted as saying, adding that two women in his group broke into tears upon seeing Quoirin.

“We did not approach but stood about 15 metres away and our team leader called the police. I could see the body.”

Police earlier said that the hiking team notified the official search-and-rescue operations at 1.57pm on Tuesday, with authorities reaching the site around 30 minutes later.

The body was removed using a helicopter and later confirmed to be that of Quoirin, who went missing from The Dusun resort near Seremban on Aug 4.

An autopsy was conducted at the Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital in Seremban on Wednesday but the results have yet to be released.

While the police previously declined to comment on the condition of the body, Mr Yeap told the UK outlet that Quoirin appeared unharmed.

“There were some scratches on her arm and some bruises but otherwise there were no injuries,” he said.

No elements of foul play have yet emerged in the tragedy but French authorities have pre-emptively opened a criminal investigation into her case; Quoirin is of Irish-French descent as her father is from France.

Yesterday, the Quoirins’ lawyer here, Mr Sankara N. Nair, said it was the attorney-general’s prerogative to order an inquest into her death but noted that sudden death cases typically result in one.

He also welcomed the French investigation and expressed hope that Malaysian police would assist in this.

Quoirin, a 15-year-old with special needs, had gone missing from the resort where her family had been residing for their holiday here.

This triggered a massive search-and-rescue operation involving hundreds of personnel from the police, Fire and Rescue Department, Civil Defence Force, People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela), General Operations Force, and the Federal Reserve Unit.

The teen’s body was discovered on Tuesday just 2km from the resort, in an area that police said was previously covered by searchers. MALAY MAIL