Teenager drowns after falling into retention pool at Muar oil palm plantation

The Fire and Rescue Department's water rescue unit searching for the victim's body.

MUAR: A 15-year-old boy drowned after falling into the water retention pool of a palm oil plantation in Parit Shafiee at Parit Jawa, here.

Muar OCPD Asst Comm Raiz Mukhliz Azman Aziz said the incident occurred at 4.57pm on Wednesday (March 13).

“The victim was playing together with seven other friends at the location before suddenly falling into the pool and not resurfacing. His friends tried to save him but were unsuccessful,” he said in a statement here Thursday (March 14).

The Fire and Rescue Department then deployed the water rescue unit to conduct the search and rescue operation, he added.

“The body of the victim was located at the bottom of the pool at 9.45pm by the department's scuba unit; it was then brought to the Sultanah Fatimah Hospital for a post-mortem,” he said.

ACP Raiz added that parents should always be mindful of their children's whereabouts and avoid letting them play near high-risk areas.

Meanwhile, Muar Fire and Rescue Department operation commander Mohd Johar Tumin said that the body was found at a depth of 3m, about 2m away from where the victim was last seen.