Water surge tragedy: Azizah invited entire family to the picnic but we were busy, says sister

CHUKAI: Siti Aisyah Eiyi, 39, said she had to turn down the invitation by her sister Azizah, 40, one of the victims of the water surge tragedy, to join a picnic at Jeram Air Putih here on Saturday, due to work commitments.

Siti Aisyah, when met at the operations control centre at the Air Putih police station here, said her sister had also invited her family, their mother Halimah Kassim, 60, and their other siblings to picnic there several times before.

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"The last day we saw each other was on Aidiladha. At that time, my sister earnestly invited us all to join her family for a picnic there but each of us had other things to do.

"My sister (Azizah) was in a cheerful mood when she invited us all, we were at our mother’s house at that time. But I was unable to join them due to work commitments,” she said, adding that she only discovered about the horrifying incident when informed by the police who were at their mother's house on Monday (June 3).

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Siti Aisyah, who came to the operations control centre here to identify the bodies, said she was grateful that her sister’s body was found on Monday by the public.

Azizah was the first victim to be discovered out of all 10 victims involved in the tragedy. Her body was found floating 24 km from the scene of incident at 12.30pm.

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Apart from Azizah, the body of her son Muhammad Zulqarnain Haikal Karim, 11, was also found yesterday stuck on a tree branch about two kilometres away.

"Alhamdulillah, I am thankful that my sister’s body has been found. My family hope that the other members of my sister’s family can also be found soon,” Siti Aisyah said.

She also recalled that her sister’s family had picnicked before several times at several recreational spots, but confirmed that this was the first time they had picked Jeram Air Putih.

The bodies of Azizah’s husband Karim Abdullah, 39, and their children Putri Aryana Umaira Karim, four, Muhammad Haziq Ziqree Karim, six, and Putri Nurerina Natasya Karim, 10, were found on Tuesday (June 4).

All the bodies were taken to the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital (HSNZ) in Kuala Terengganu for post-mortem.

Siti Aisyah said they would be buried in Felda Lepar Hilir, Kuantan, Pahang.

With the discovery and confirmation of the identity of the six bodies, SAR operation will focus on finding the bodies of four more victims namely Putri Balqis Izzati Abdul Rahman, 18, Putri Alleya Maisarah Karim, 16, Putri Nor Fatin Karim, 14, and Muhammad Fikri Saliman, 24, who was believed to be engaged to Putri Balqis Izzati.- Bernama