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GEORGE TOWN – The long holiday break here was marred when a woman was believed to have fallen from Penang Bridge last night.
She is believed to have slipped from KM2.8 on the lane heading towards the island.
As of noon today, the rescue authorities, namely marine police and the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), were searching for her in the Penang Strait.
The 47-year old identified as Kung Lai Im had apparently abandoned her vehicle on the bridge.
State MMEA director Abd Razak Mohamed said that police from the Bukit Mertajam district had relayed a distress call about the incident.
“We deployed our rescue craft around the bridge and we hope to find her,” he told journalists here.
Anyone with information can contact the MMEA at MERS 999 or its operations centre at 04-262-6146.
Earlier, state police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain told a media briefing that police estimate up to 1.5 million vehicles will be in Penang during the long festive break from Labour Day tomorrow till Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations, which may stretch till the end of next week.
Shuhaily urged motorists and residents alike to plan their journeys and to avoid major roads that are expected to be full of vehicles ferrying tourists, as well as those out to mark the start of the Muslim month of Syawal.
He said the majority of police personnel will have their leaves frozen, as they work to ensure crowd control and enforce Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs).
The SOPs remain in effect even though the public no longer needs to wear face masks from Monday onwards.
He urged people to avoid crowding and to don masks when indoors, with doctors here encouraging people to consistently undergo self-tests before attending gatherings.
The Penang chapter of the Malaysian Association of Hotels expects to record an average room occupancy of above 70% for the duration of the long holidays.
This also marks the first time in two years that people can move about in public without the need to mask up. – The Vibes, April 30, 2022.