The authorities have done all they can in the search for the seven missing Orang Asli children, Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Azizah Mohd Dun claimed today.

"The authorities never stopped looking for those seven children.

"All the relevant authorities were already on the ground looking for them, so everything was done already," Azizah told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

She said the Orang Asli Affairs Department had taken immediate action when the children were first reported missing.

"They (the children) are under the jurisdiction of the department and they took action immediately," she said.

On the part of the ministry, Azizah said it will offer its services to the families of the children, including counselling and monetary aid if needed.

"That is our job. If needed, we will give them all the help they need," she said.

Counsellors from the ministry are already on standby, she added, and she is "quite sure" that they would have already met with the families.

The seven Orang Asli children went missing on Aug 23.

They had run away from the SK Pos Tohoi school hostel in Gua Musang, Kelantan, for fear of punishment after being discovered swimming in a river without permission.

Victim identified

Bodies believed to be of two of the seven missing children were discovered downstream of the river yesterday.

A villager stumbled upon the decomposed remains of a girl in Sungai Perias, about 500 metres from Pos Tohoi.

Family members identified the victim as Sasa Sobrie, who is eight years’ old.

In Gua Musang, Gua Musang Hospital director Dr Nik Mohd Faizal Zainal Abidin said the post-mortem conducted last night found the girl had died about one to two weeks ago.

The second remains were found shortly after.