PETALING JAYA: The search and rescue (SAR) operation for three foreign men who remain missing following a water surge incident at Sungai Luit, near the Sungai Pertak Picnic Site in Kampung Orang Asli Pertak, Kuala Kubu Baru, Hulu Selangor, continued on Wednesday (Nov 11) morning.
Selangor Fire and Rescue Department assistant director of operations Ashrul Riezal Asbar said the search operation was focused on the areas around Pertak Bridge and the Selangor River Dam.
"The SAR operation was not suspended last night. Instead, we continued searching for the victims on the water surface. Diving teams also began operations as early as 7am today," he said when contacted on Wednesday.
He said the search operation also involved boats, the K9 detection unit and the Malaysia Special Tactical Operations and Rescue Team (STORM).
Ashrul Riezal said as of 8am on Tuesday, the three men who remained missing comprised a Yemeni national and two Indian nationals, while the number of victims found remained at five.
Media reports earlier said five of the eight men who were swept away by strong currents in an incident at about 5.30pm last Monday had been found drowned, while three others remained missing.
The first victim, local man V. Vijayan, 36, was found at 1.30am yesterday in the Pertak Bridge area, about 2.7km from the incident site at Lata Jebus.
Four more victims were found later that morning, with three discovered at 9.20am in the Jambatan Senget area, about 950m from Lata Jebus, while another was found at 10.12am near the Suspension Bridge, about 1km from Lata Jebus.
Two of the victims were identified as Kapali, 49, a Nepalese national, and Kunjanmalayil Bhaskaran, 35, an Indian national, while the other two were Indian and Sri Lankan nationals.
All the bodies were taken to the forensic unit at Sungai Buloh Hospital for post-mortem examinations.
In the incident, 34 people from four groups were involved, with eight men swept away by the currents, while the remaining 26 managed to save themselves or were rescued by firefighters.
