Lakeside outing ends in tragedy for two boys

PUCHONG: They shared the same name, and by a cruel twist of fate, they died together too.

One of them gave his life trying to rescue the other.

Muhammad Amirul Irfan Mohd Sabri, 14, and Muhammad Amirul Irfan Mohd Rashid, 10, both unrelated, were at Tasik Puchong Prima with friends and family on Friday evening when tragedy struck.

According to the older boy’s father, the teenager was playing at the shore of the lake with his younger brother when two boys shouted for help from the lake.

Sabri Zakaria, 39, said his son jumped into the lake and tried to save the boys, who were drowning.

“He managed to save one but he ended up drowning while trying to get to the other boy,” he said, adding that his son knew how to swim but had never done so in a river or lake.

Sabri, who was at the Serdang Hospital mortuary yesterday, said his son had visited his grandmother who lived near the lake after Friday prayers and had gone out without informing her.

Fire and Rescue Department personnel rushed to the scene and divers were sent in to look for the boys at about 4.30pm.

Rescuers pulled out the older boy’s body from the bottom of the 60m deep lake three hours later.

The search for Muhammad Ami­rul Irfan stretched on until yesterday, with K-9 tracker dogs brought in.

Puchong Fire and Rescue Station chief Mohd Hisam Mat Yasih said the boy’s body was found about 10m from the lake’s jetty at about 3pm yesterday.