The body of a drowned teenager in Teluk Cempedak was found
KUANTAN: The body of a teenage boy, Muhammad Ikmal Hakim Ahmad, 19, who was feared to have drowned on Monday was found by the search and rescue team (SAR) at 2.40pm today.
The victim, along with two of his friends who worked at a convenience store near here before that had gone to Teluk Tongkang, Teluk Cempedak, near here, at 2.45pm, on Monday to take a bath with his two friends to celebrate the success of getting a job in a new place.
The victim, however, was reported missing after being believed to have been swept away by the waves.
Kuantan District Civil Defense Officer, Capt (PA) Shaifu Nizam Ab Rahman informed that the victim’s body was found by the public at Pantai Tembeling Resort at a distance of about three kilometers from the location where he was reported missing.
“The rescue team rushed to the scene together with 11 members of the Malaysian Civil Defense Force (APM), the police team (12 members), the Maritime team (12), and 14 members of the Fire and Rescue Department,” he said in a statement today.
Yesterday, Kuantan District Police Chief, Assistant Commissioner Wan Mohd Zahari Wan Busu said, the victim’s friend, Mohd Amirul Izzat (19 years old), the victim and another friend went to the scene to take a bath in the area on Monday.
He said, they bathed in a rocky area about 100 meters from the beach of Teluk Tongkang and that place could only be reached by foot during low tide, when the water level was only waist level.
“The friend (Mohd Amirul Izzat) explained that while he was taking a shower, the sea began to rise and the path to return to the beach began to be flooded with strong currents and high waves.
“The victim and his friend tried to swim from the rocky area where they bathed to the beach but the three of them were swept away by the current,” he said.
Wan Mohd Zahari said, he (Mohd Amirul Izzat) and another friend managed to reach the shore while the victim was swept away by the current and kept drowning.
A search and rescue operation (SAR) consisting of police from Kuantan District Police Headquarters (IPD), Kuantan Fire and Rescue Station, Kuantan APM was carried out immediately after receiving an emergency call.
“The operation was also joined by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (APMM) and Marines who have started a search along the coast of Teluk Tongkang up to Teluk Cempedak including APMM boat patrols in the waters,” he said.
