11-year-old girl drowns in swamp

"I know that 'kakak' has gone...she was in the water for half-an-hour. But I coaxed myself, saying that kakak is still alive throughout the journey to the hospital until the doctor said kakak's lungs had burst."

These were the words of Nur Atikah Abdul Rahman who had found her niece, Nur Ain Natasya Mohd Rosaidi, 11, who drowned in the swamp near their house in Kampung Pulau Serai, here, at 5.30pm yesterday.

Nur Atikah, 23, said the victim, a pupil of Sekolah Kebangsaan Peramu Jaya, here, had never played near the swamp previously.

However, she felt like going there yesterday to look for her younger brother, Ashraf Nasrullah, 8, who frequently went fishing there, added Nur Atikah.

"Shortly after, I saw abang (Ashhraf Nasrullah) coming out of the room. He was actually sleeping.

"Suddenly, a girl came to the house to say that kakak had drowned. I went to the swamp to ascertain that it was not a joke before telephoning the Fire and Rescue Station and then dived into the swamp to look for kakak," she told reporters here today.

Nur Atikah, a factory worker, also informed the victim's mother, Nurul Hidayah Ahmad Tarmizi, 30, who is in confinement after delivering her fourth child last month.

She said Nur Ain Natasha was laid to rest at the Kuala Pahang Muslim Cemetery, here at 11 am today, beside the grave of her grandfather, Abdul Rahman Dollah who died on June 5, last year.

Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department, Pahang, Anuar Hassan said the victim was believed to have fallen into the approximately four-metre-deep swamp, and was rushed to Pekan Hospital by the Fire and Rescue Department personnel who had arrived at the scene. - Bernama