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KUALA TERENGGANU – A 3-year-old child is feared to have drowned after falling off a canal bridge in Kg Kebor Besar, in Manir, near here yesterday afternoon.
The victim, Muhammad Sufi Eijas Mohd Sobrey, who lives in a nearby village, was playing on the low bridge with his brother Syakir Wafiuuddin, 8, before falling into the ditch.
Terengganu Fire and Rescue Department chief operations commander Mazimi Mohamad said a distress call was received at 4.28pm that a child was missing after falling off the bridge.
A water rescue unit team from the department was deployed to the scene, he said.
“A search was mobilised for almost two hours with four dives before Maghrib (sunset) with the help of other agencies and villagers. So far there are no signs of the victim. We will continue the search tonight until tomorrow,” he said last night at the location, adding that the ditch was deep and had a strong current due to rain.
“The grassy ground and tree roots make the search difficult. There is a possibility that the victim got entangled in the tree roots,” he said.
Meanwhile, the victim’s father, Mohd Sobrey Ramli, 32, said he and his three children, including the victim, had gone to the area on a motorcycle at 4pm for a stroll before the children went for their religious lessons nearby.
He said as soon as he arrived, the victim and his brother Syakir rushed off his motorcycle towards the canal to see children taking a dip.
“I had hardly gotten off the motorcycle when my eldest son came running to say Eijas (the victim) was missing.
“I rushed there and dived in to look for him but he was nowhere to be found,” said Sobrey, who works as a security guard at Kuala Terengganu Polytechnic.
“I never thought I could lose a child in the blink of an eye. I am devastated,” he said. – Bernama, December 13, 2022