BEAUFORT: Continuous heavy rain at several districts in Sabah since Tuesday resulted in another death when an eight-year-old boy drowned after falling into a monsoon drain in the flood-hit Beaufort on Friday.
The body of Sharizal Walhid, from SK Lajau, Beaufort, was found about an hour from where he allegedly slipped and fell into the monsoon drain around 6pm on February 14.
It is learnt that the victim was walking along the drain to his neighbour’s house when he fell into the drain.
Villagers, who were alerted of the incident, tried to pull the boy out of the water but to no avail as the water current swept him away. His body was recovered about several meters from where he fell and was taken to the Beaufort Hospital in an ambulance. Fire and Rescue Services Department public relations officer Senior Assistant Superintendent Mohd Affendy Ramin said a team of Fire and Rescue Services personnel from Beaufort was immediately deployed to the scene after being informed of the incident.
“Upon arrival, the victim’s body has been fished out from the water by villagers and was taken to hospital for a post-mortem,” he said yesterday.
Mohd Affendy reminded the public not to play or swim near rivers and urged parents to keep a close watch on their children to avoid unwanted incident from happening during the rainy season.
This is the second drowning incident since the state was hit by what was described as the worst floods.
On Wednesday, a two-year-old toddler drowned when the rescue boat was ferrying evacuees overturned in a village in Keningau.
The girl, identified as Maisarah Bihar, was among 16 people including three firemen, in the boat used to evacuate residents from flood-hit Kampung Mempikit, Keningau when the incident happened around 10.15am on February 13.
It was said that the victim’s mother was carrying the toddler when the boat overturned believed to be overloaded.
The toddler’s body was later found under the boat, half an hour later after it was turned upright.