DUNGUN: A Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Bukit Besi student, who drowned at Tasik Puteri Waterfall in Bukit Besi near here, was believed to have slipped before sinking in the lake at 11.10am today.
The victim, Amirul Danish Zamri, 19, who could not swim, could not be saved by nine friends despite their attempts to pull him to safety.
His friend, Nor Ahmad Anas Muiz Norazeli, 19, said the victim was standing beside him in water about one metre deep at the lake’s edge.
“However, Amirul Danish suddenly slipped into a deeper area. He struggled and sank before my friends and I could grab him,” he said when met at the Dungun Hospital Forensic Unit today.
Amirul Danish, a first-year Mechanical Engineering student, had gone to the waterfall with nine other friends, all UiTM Bukit Besi students.
The victim’s body was recovered from the bottom of the seven-metre-deep lake by Fire and Rescue personnel at 12.42pm.
Elaborating further, Nor Ahmad Anas Muiz said he and the victim had visited the waterfall four times since beginning their studies at the university last July.
“Amirul Danish showed no behavioural changes; he was cheerful and joking as we walked about one kilometre from the student residential college to the waterfall,” he said.
Meanwhile, the victim’s father, Zamri Zainodin, 55, said he arrived at the scene while the search and rescue operation was being conducted.
Zamri rushed to the location after being informed by another of his children.
“I was overcome with emotion seeing the personnel lift Amirul Danish’s lifeless body after he was found at the bottom of the lake,” he said somberly.
Zamri, an electrician, said the last time he saw Amirul Danish — the fourth of five siblings — was when his son returned home for a break to Kampung Seberang Pintasan last Sunday.
He said his son was cheerful and friendly, never complaining when asked to help with chores around the house.
“Amirul Danish was interested in pursuing Mechanical Engineering because his three older brothers had also studied in the same field,” he added.
Zamri said his son’s remains would be buried at the Seberang Pintasan Muslim Cemetery once the autopsy has been completed. – BERNAMA
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
