Boy, nine, drowned while bathing in river

CHUKAI: A nine-year-old boy was found drowned after bathing in a river tributary in Kampung Batu 9, near here, yesterday.

Kemaman district police chief, Supt Hanyan Ramlan, said that in the 5.37 pm incident, the victim, Muhammad Aman A. Suhimi, was reported to have drowned while bathing at the location with two friends.

"We at the Kemaman district police headquarters operations room received an emergency call from MERS999, informing us about the drowning incident at Kampung Batu 9 Ibok. The body was later taken to the Kemaman Hospital Forensic Unit for further action," he said in a statement.

The victim's father, A. Suhimi Salleh, 58, said that his son's body was found washed away by a farmer in an oil palm plantation, located about 100 metres from where the victim was last seen, believed to have been swept away by the strong current following the rain.

"After the Zohor prayer, I went for a nap and at 3 pm my son returned from school and told me that he wanted to play in the water with his friends. That morning he had sports at school. Later, his friend came (to the house) to tell me that Aman was drowned.

"When I arrived at the site, I only saw his slippers. Aman and his friends always bathed in the tributary but due to the heavy rain the water was about two metres high," he said when met by reporters at the Kemaman Hospital Forensic Unit, last night.

-- BERNAMA