KOTA KINABALU: A search operation has been mounted for an 18-month-old girl who went missing and is feared drowned at a river in Beaufort on Saturday (July 9).
Authorities believe the victim wandered off from her house and likely fell into a nearby river.
The Fire and Rescue Department earlier received the distress call alerting the missing toddler at 11.19am at Batu 66, Beaufort.
According to the victim's father, the girl was under the care of relatives at the time as he and his wife were trading at a tamu (weekly market) in Beaufort.
The child's grandmother noticed that the house door was ajar and the girl was nowhere to be found at 8.30am, said a Fire and Rescue Department spokesman.
"The search and rescue operation commenced at 12.30pm, with three teams comprising personnel from Beaufort bomba, the civil defence force and villagers.
"The operation was carried out along the river and within a two-kilometre radius from the operation control post," said the spokesman.
The girl was last seen wearing a white shirt with cartoon characters and dark blue pants.
