Fatal ride: Firemen working to remove the harvesting machine from a river near a padi field in Kampung Sanglang, Alor Setar.
ALOR SETAR: Polytechnic student Muhammad Amsyar Muqri Masri, who drowned four days ago, was with three of his childhood friends on a harvesting machine that plunged into a river near a padi field.
They had just finished collecting harvested padi and were on their way to unload it at a storage site, said Kubang Pasu OCPD Supt Radzi Abdul Rahim.
The machine, he said, was driven by one of the victim’s friends.
“The driver was navigating a section of the padi field on higher ground in Kampung Sanglang here.
“However, instead of turning left as intended, the tractor overshot its path. When he tried to reverse, the gear malfunctioned and failed to engage.
“As a result, the machine lurched forward, throwing all of them off and into the river,” he said.
Supt Radzi said Muhammad Amsyar could not swim and drowned while the others managed to swim to safety.
He said the group of friends had been spending time together, chatting and catching up before the tragic case.
The incident, which took place at 3pm on Saturday, was classified as sudden death, he said.
A crane was brought in to remove the machine from the river at around 11pm on Saturday.
The body of Muhammad Amsyar, 18, was recovered some 20 hours later on Sunday morning about 10m away from where he had fallen.
The search and rescue operation was carried out by a water rescue team from the Sungai Petani Fire Station and various agencies.
Muhammad Amsyar was laid to rest at the Kampung Sanglang Muslim Cemetery after Asar prayers on Sunday.
