KOTA KINABALU: A man drowned while three others managed to save themselves when flood waters washed away their four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicle in Tawau district.
In the late Thursday (Jan 8) incident, the four men in their 20s and 30s were traversing a flooded road at Kg Sungai Udin when the current washed the 4WD away.
They were transporting two motorcycles in the back of the pickup, with two men sitting there to keep the vehicles steady.
When the strong current hit at around 9pm, three of the men swam to safety but one man, in his 30s, did not make it.
Sabah Fire and Rescue Department Tawau operations chief Zougarana Bin Konin said they received a distress call at 9.34pm, and arrived at the scene some 45km away about an hour later owing to the distance and difficult road conditions.
"Three men were found safe, while another was missing.
"His body was recovered at around 7.15am the next morning, about 800m from where he was last seen," he said in a statement on Friday (Jan 9).
The victim’s body was handed over to the police for further action, while the pickup and motorcycles were not recovered.
