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IPOH – Only one person drowned at Burmese Pool at the Bukit Larut waterfall in Taiping near here yesterday and not three people as claimed on social media, said police today.
Taiping deputy police chief Razlam Ab Hamid said the Taiping police station received information about the man drowning and being swept away by strong currents at the location at 5.15pm yesterday.
“Police arrived at the location at 5.25pm and were told by four of his friends that the victim, who hailed from Butterworth, Penang, was swept away by the river current. The search-and-rescue (SAR) operation was temporarily halted at 8pm because of heavy rain and strong currents.
“The SAR operation resumed with 12 police personnel and 13 personnel from Kamunting Fire and Rescue station at 8am today. The victim’s body was found about a kilometre from where he went missing at 10.10am in the Sg Batu Teguh area,” he said in a statement.
He said the 28-year-old victim was found lying facedown in the water and wearing only shorts.
“A physical examination of his body found that there was an injury on the nose and no signs of criminal elements were found. The body was taken to the Forensic Department of Taiping Hospital for post-mortem,” he said, adding that action can be taken under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 in cases of spreading inaccurate information.
It was reported yesterday that the owner of the Facebook account “Hotdtaiping Official” had made a post about three victims being swept away by a water surge at the waterfall. – Bernama, August 29, 2022