Disabled teen drowns in Gua Musang river

GUA MUSANG: A group of teenage boys were excited to go swimming on Thursday (Feb 9) in Sungai Kombat, Felda Perasu here, but tragedy struck after one of them, a person with disabilities (PwD), drowned.

Gua Musang OCPD Supt Sik Choon Foo said the victim, Muhammad Fakhrul Imam Zulkepli, 16, together with his friends went to the location of the incident at 4.30pm.

"The incident happened when the victim and a friend, known only as Amir, were said to have been drawn deeper into the river's waters.

"Two other friends managed to pull Amir out but their attempts to save the victim using a stick were unsuccessful as the stick broke and Fakhrul was swept away by the currents," he said in a statement Friday (Feb 10), adding that the victim's body was later found floating on the river.

"The victim was given CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) by his friends but it was unsuccessful. Later, he was sent to Klinik Peras and was certified dead by a medical assistant.

"The victim's body was sent to the Gua Musang Hospital and an autopsy found that the victim died due to drowning," he said.

Supt Sik also said that investigations at the location of the incident as well as based on witness testimony found no criminal elements involved and the case has been classified as sudden death. - Bernama