Firemen dissuade woman from jumping off water tank

IPOH: Quick action by firefighters here saved a woman from attempting to jump from a water tank at a public market in Bagan Serai today.

Perak Fire and Rescue Department assistant director (operations division) Sabarodzi Nor Ahmad said the department received a call about the incident at 2.37 pm and firefighters rushed to the scene.

"When we arrived at the scene, we found a woman, believed to be mentally ill, at the top of the water tank, estimated to be six storeys high," he said in a statement today

He said the operation chief managed to dissuade the woman, aged 39, from jumping.

Sabarodzi said that the operation ended at 4 pm.

Kerian District Police chief Supt Juna Yusoff said police received information about the incident at 2 pm and rushed to the location with Fire Department personnel.

"Preliminary investigations found that the 39-year-old woman was married and had mental health problems.

"The woman lives in Kuala Lumpur and arrived in Bagan Serai on Dec 16 in a public vehicle.

"She claimed that she was hiding at the water tank to avoid being harassed by strangers," he said in a statement tonight.

Juna said the woman had lived in Bagan Serai when she was a child as her late father had served as a teacher in the area.

He said the woman had been taken to the Bagan Serai Police Station for further action before being sent to her home in Kuala Lumpur.

-- BERNAMA