The Education Ministry will manage the repatriation of two trainee teachers who drowned in Kedah, while launching internal and police investigations into the tragic kayaking incident.
ALOR SETAR: The Education Ministry has pledged to manage all arrangements to repatriate the bodies of two trainee teachers who drowned during a kayaking trip in Kedah.
Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh stated the ministry would assist the families of the second-year students from the Teacher Training Institute Perlis Campus.
“The MOE expresses its sadness and conveys its condolences to all family members of the victims,” Wong said at Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital’s forensics department.
He added that the nation had lost two excellent future teachers in the tragic incident.
The ministry will also conduct counselling sessions for students directly involved and others impacted by the event.
Investigations will proceed on two parallel tracks, with full police cooperation and an immediate internal probe to determine the cause.
The victims, identified as 21-year-old Christopher Ling Jia Siang from Kuching and 20-year-old Joey Ling Lin Siang from Sibu, were found drowned at Pantai Merdeka near Sungai Petani.
Family members of both students were at the hospital to formally identify the remains.
