JOY OF EIGHT FRIENDS ON PUBLIC HOLIDAY JAUNT TURNS TRAGIC AS ONE DROWNS

BANDAR PERMAISURI, May 12 (Bernama) — The joy of eight friends from Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) frolicking at Lata Changkah in Terengganu on the Vesak Day public holiday was shattered when one of them drowned.

It was their first visit there as Muhammad Hady Izzudyn Ikmal Hisam, 23, said he and the victim Wan Ahmad Irfan Wan Abdullah Thani, 24, were initially taking a dip with six other friends in the middle section of the (waterfall) cascade.

"I then went ashore for a drink. Following that, I saw the six of them moving further toward the centre and worryingly, all six of them actually couldn't swim.

"Not long after, I saw them all starting to struggle. I immediately rushed to help and managed to save five of them with the help of the public. But we couldn't find Wan Ahmad Irfan," he said when met at the scene today.

Meanwhile, operations commander Zuraidi Mohd Yusuf from the Setiu fire and rescue station (BBP Setiu) said they received a distress call about the incident at 3.42 pm before dispatching 10 personnel to the waterfall.

The search and rescue operation for the Faculty of Law student reportedly began at 4 pm before Wan Ahmad Irfan’s body was recovered from the bottom of the pool at a depth of 4.5 metres, some 28 minutes later.

“Five of the victim’s friends, who nearly drowned, were sent to the Setiu Hospital for treatment of near-drowning injuries, while the deceased student’s body was handed over to police for further action.

“The public is advised to always be cautious about weather conditions. While it wasn’t raining at the waterfall during the incident, the murky water is an indication that rainfall occurred upstream (danger of surging currents),” he said.

-- BERNAMA