Youth who saved grandma drowns

BALING: A youth, who had earlier carried his paralysed grandmother to higher ground to escape the rising flood waters, was found dead.

Darul Hafiz Mohd Danial, 23, was found lying face down in the waters at the foot of the staircase in the house in Kampung Belakang Sekolah Kupang here.

The victim, together with four friends, had moved Che Wan Mustapha, 77, upstairs at about 9am as a flash flood caused waters to rise up to their thighs.

One of his friends Firdaus Ishak, 21, told Bernama at the Baling Hospital mortuary that after bringing her to the upper floor, they went out for a break nearby.

“Shortly after, he (Darul Hafiz) went back inside the house to prepare milk for his grandmother.

“There was no sign of him after 45 minutes so we went to check and found him floating near the stairs,” he said, adding that Darul Hafiz had said that he was tired after moving other household items upstairs.

Flooded wake: The casket containing Chin’s grandfather is placed on a higher table during the wake in Taman Bunga Raya, Butterworth.  

Meanwhile, floods in Penang claimed its first victim after a 42-year-old man slipped into the Prai River and drowned.

In Taman Bunga Raya, a family mourning the death of an 86-year-old relative had to move the coffin to a higher table as the house became flooded.

Grandson and sales executive Johnny Chin Kok How, 28, said friends and relatives stood on stools while waiting for the rescue boat to bring them out.