School teacher awaits recovery of son's body

However, Alias and his wife, Yuhaslinah Yunus, 51, have not given up hope on the recovery of the body of their youngest son, Mohammad Izzat Haikal, 12, who was reported to missing at Pantai Bukit Keluang, Besut, on Jan 14.

"Although it has been 141 days since my son's disappearance, there has still been no news of his body's recovery. This saddens us and we can only hope for a miracle to happen," he told Bernama when met at his residence here today.

In the 3pm incident, Haikal, a student of Sekolah Kebangsaan Kampung Raja, went swimming with some friends, aged between 12 and 15, at Pantai Bukit Keluang.

However, he and his friend, Nik Muhammad Haikal Nik Shamsuddin, 13, a student of SMK Tengku Mahmud, were swept away by strong waves while the others managed to save themselves.

The body of Nik Muhammad Haikal was found at 7am he following day, about 200 metres from where he was reported missing but Mohammad Izzat Haikal's body has yet to be recovered.

"Until now, my son has been classified as a 'missing person' case and can only be confirmed dead after a period of seven years. As a result, we are unable to make a report on his death nor do 'tahlil' prayers for him," said Alias, who is a teacher at SMK Kuala Besut.

Alias, who also has two other sons and two daughters, aged between 12 and 22, added that this Ramadan was hard for him as he was reminded of the antics of his youngest whose favourite food was 'ayam gunting' and cream puffs.