Water surge tragedy: Father accepts daughter's death as fate

KUALA TERENGGANU: The father of 40-year-old Azizah Eiyi - who died in the water surge tragedy at the Jeram Air Putih waterfall - has accepted the untimely death of his daughter as fate.

Besides Azizah, who was the third of seven siblings, the 60-year-old Eiyi also lost his son-in-law (Azizah's husband- Karim Abdullah) and seven grandchildren in the incident.

"I accept this as fate. On the day of the incident, I went to work and was informed by my wife that the family was having a picnic. They do not live in the same house as us, but still in the same village. Her husband used to commute from Felda Lepar Hilir to Air Putih every day,” he said when met at the Forensic Department of the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital (HSNZ) here on Monday (July 3).

Meanwhile, Terengganu Tourism, Culture and Digital Technology committee chairman Ariffin Deraman also visited the victims’ families and offered personal donations.

He said the tragedy was an unforeseen incident because it occurred outside of the monsoon season.

Ariffin said the public should check the weather forecast on social media or the websites of the relevant authorities before engaging in recreational activities, especially in water recreation areas, adding that the Malaysian Meteorological Department has issued a warning of heavy rain and thunderstorms in the northern states of the peninsula until July 5.

On Sunday (July 2), Bernama reported that 10 people, nine of them a family from Felda Lepar Hilir, Kuantan, Pahang, were having a picnic at Jeram Mawar near Chukai, Terengganu, on Saturday before they were swept away by the water surge.

The two victims who were found by the public at noon on Sunday were identified as Azizah, 40, and her 11-year-old son Muhammad Zulqarnain Haikal Karim.

Today, seven more bodies were found during the search and rescue operation. One person is still missing. - Bernama