KOTA KINABALU: A mother held the hands of her two children, ages 5 and 6, before they were seen falling into the sea in Sandakan in the wee hours of Sunday.
Their actions shocked families and passersby who were in the area, prompting them to jump in and rescue them in the 1am incident.
The 29-year-old mother was rescued, but her male cousin, in his 20s, went underwater and is feared drowned together with the two children, a girl and a boy.
Sandakan Fire Station Chief Severinus Sainkui said the boy’s body was discovered at around 7.08am some 200m from where he was last seen, while search and rescue operations for the two others continued.
He said that, based on initial information, the woman had brought her children out to sea for reasons yet to be ascertained.
“They jumped into the water before the waves took them away,” he said in a statement.
People who saw the incident, including her male cousin, quickly jumped in to rescue them, said Severinus.
Earlier, he said they received a distress call at around 1.13am, and a team was sent out to respond.
Together with police, maritime officials and health ministry personnel, a search operation was carried out.
“For our side, we used the water surface method to search for the victims,” he said.
Both the surviving victim and the deceased have been taken to the Duchess of Kent Hospital for a post-mortem.
Those suffering from mental health issues or contemplating suicide can reach out to the Mental Health Psychosocial Support Service (03-2935 9935 or 014-322 3392); Talian Kasih (15999 or 019-261 5999 on WhatsApp); Jakim's Family, Social and Community care centre (011-1959 8214 on WhatsApp); and Befrienders Kuala Lumpur (03-7627 2929, or visit www.befrienders.org.my/centre-in-malaysia for a full list of numbers and operating hours, or email sam@befrienders.org.my.
