Teen drowns in Sura Hujung beach while collecting cockles

A teenager’s intention to collect cockles and bathe with his friends in Sura Hujung Beach, Dungun, Terengganu, turned fatal when he drowned.

In the incident that happened at 12.30pm on Thursday, Mohd Firdaus Sulong, 17, was reported missing before his body was found about 20 metres away from the spot where he was last seen.

“We bathed together and we saw Mohd Firdaus floating away in the strong current. We tried to save him by holding out a stick but we could not do so,” said his friend Mohd Zulkharie Mohd Yusof.

Meanwhile Mohd Firdaus’s mother Latipah Mohd Nor said she only found out about the incident after being informed by her son’s friends.

“I didn’t know that my son went to the beach. His friends told me that he drowned,” she said.

Dungun district police chief Superintendant Ahmad Zailani Yaacob said they received an emergency call around 1.13pm.

He said the search and rescue mission started at 1.30pm.

His body was later found at 3pm and sent to the Dungun Hospital for post mortem.