"I helplessly watched them drown one by one" - Mohamad Aiman Hakimi

These were the words of Mohamad Aiman Hakimi Zuhairi, 10, the younger brother of Salsabila, 12, who was drowned in a former bauxite mining pond in Taman Sungai Karang Jaya, Sungai Karang near here on Saturday together with their brother Mahathir Mohamad, seven, and friend Nureen Ain Juwita Mohd Sharif, 10.

Narrating the moments before the fateful event at 5 pm, Mohamad Aiman Hakimi said he and his siblings and four others had gone for the first time to play in the area.

"I then saw a piece of black rubber and tried to reach for it before falling into the pond. I almost drowned at that time, but managed to save myself by swimming out.

"However, my pants came off and my sister tried to reach for it," he said when met at the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital (HTAA) Forensic Unit here last night.

However, he said his sister slipped and fell into the pond and drowned while trying to retrieve his pants prompting Nureen Ain and his younger brother Mahathir to try and rescue her, but it also resulted in them drowning in the process.

Mohamad Aiman said he himself did not expect to see one by one of his siblings and friend drowning without doing anything about it, as he was frozen with shock.

He and the others then ran to the nearest houses of residents in the area to get help, he said.

Meanwhile, the father of Nureen Ain Juwita, security guard Mohd Sharif Awang Ngah, 50, said he did not expect his only daughter to go to the area to play.

"Before the incident, Nureen Ain Juwita had gone to her grandfather's house in Taman PSJ about five kilometres from our house in Kampung Sungai Karang."

Mohd Sharif said he found out about the incident befalling his daughter from a village resident there at 6.30 pm.

Meanwhile, a witness staying in Taman Sungai Karang Jaya, Zam Abdul Rahman, 37, was among the earliest to reach the scene of the incident after being informed by one of the children involved.

"When I reached the place, the bodies of the siblings had been pulled out by village residents.

"I tried to revive the two victims but failed. I went back home to fetch my safety vest when I found out Nureen Ain Juwita was still in the pond, to try to pull her body out," he said.

He said the pond was quite deep and he also almost drowned.