PETALING JAYA: A 10-year-old boy who was reported missing after he was believed to have been swept away by strong currents in Sungai Bernam, Kampung Sungai Nilam in Hulu Selangor, has been found dead.
Selangor Fire and Rescue Department senior operations commander Mustakim Rimon said the victim, Muhamad Aakif Imran Asrul Nizam, was found at 4.36pm on Thursday (May 28), about 300m from the spot where he was reported to have fallen into the river.
“The Water Rescue Team (PPDA) conducted a dive in an area of the river estimated to be about 6m deep before locating the victim at the bottom of the river.
“The victim was then brought to the Fire Control Centre and handed over to the police for further action,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
According to Mustakim, on the first day of the operation Wednesday (May 27), the search was conducted within a 1.6km radius from the location where the victim was believed to have been swept away before it was expanded to 3km on Thursday.
He said search operations were carried out on the river surface, in addition to dives conducted by PPDA personnel at several identified locations.
Earlier, Selangor Fire and Rescue Department operations assistant director Ahmad Mukhlis Mukhtar was reported as saying that the department received an emergency call regarding the incident at 1.40pm on Wednesday (May 27).
Acting on the information received, personnel from the Kuala Kubu Baru Fire and Rescue Station were deployed to the scene, located about 40km from the station.
The search operation was also assisted by personnel from the Tanjung Malim Fire and Rescue Station, the K9 Unit, PPDA teams from the KLIA and Port Klang fire stations, as well as several other agencies including the police, Health Ministry, Volunteer Fire Brigade and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI).
A total of 12 firefighters, along with two fire rescue tenders, three utility vehicles and three boats, were deployed for the operation.
