KOTA KINABALU: A five-year-old boy has drowned after his mother took him and his six-year-old sister out to sea in an early morning tragedy in Sandakan.
However, the 29-year-old woman survived but her 22-year-old cousin who tried to rescue them and her daughter are still missing.
Sandakan Fire station chief Severinus Sainkui said the woman took her children out to sea in the 1am incident on Sunday (March 30) for reasons yet to be ascertained.
"They went into the water and the waves took them away," he said in a statement.
He said others in the area, including the cousin, jumped in to rescue them.
However, only the woman was rescued while the cousin and the two children disappeared underwater.
Severinus said they received a distress call at 1.13am and they mounted a search operation together with police, maritime officials and health ministry personnel.
He said the boy's body was found at 7.08am, some 200m from where he was last seen.
His remains were sent for a post-mortem examination at the Duchess of Kent Hospital, where his mother is also receiving treatment.
The search operation is ongoing for the two other victims.
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