KANGAR: “I’m heartbroken that I couldn’t save my brother, even though I was holding his hand,” said 12-year-old Muhammad Haikal Hasif Mohd Yuhanis, the brother of one of the drowning victims at Kampung Padang Besar Selatan, Kuala Perlis, yesterday.
Muhammad Haikal Hasif said the slippery riverbank and the victims’ frantic struggle to breathe caused his grip to slip.
In the 4pm incident, two cousins, Muhammad Haikal Hakim Mohd Yuhanis, 11, and Iskandar Zulkarnain Mohd Faizal, 8, drowned while swimming in the river at the village.
“I tried my best to save them. I even managed to grab Haikal Hakim’s hand, but he slipped away from my grasp,” said Haikal Hasif when met outside the Tuanku Fauziah Hospital (HTF) Forensic Department here.
He said that before the incident, his brother and cousin had been playing video games with friends at home.
“Later, they said they wanted to top up their mobile credit and invited us to the football field.
“But when my cousin, who is Iskandar’s elder brother, and I arrived at the field, they weren’t there. We turned back and saw them swimming in the river with some village friends,” he said.
Haikal Hasif said he noticed his brother swimming near the riverbank at first.
“Then I saw some of the children struggling, especially Iskandar, as they seemed to realise too late that the river was deep.
“In the panic, my brother swam towards the middle of the river to save Iskandar. I jumped in after them to help, but my grip slipped, and both of them went under,” he said.
He added that villagers who arrived later jumped into the river and managed to rescue three other children, but failed to save Iskandar and Haikal Hakim.
Iskandar’s mother, Rozaini Hazat, 35, said she accepted her son’s passing as fate.
“They (Iskandar and Haikal Hakim) were very close because they were cousins.
“Both of them will likely be buried side by side at the Kampung Padang Besar Selatan Muslim Cemetery once all formalities are completed,” she said.
Meanwhile, Kangar deputy district police chief, Superintendent Baeyah Abdul Wahab, said the victims had been swimming in the river with friends before one of them began to struggle.
“The victim’s brother tried to help but failed, as the river is about two metres deep,” she said.
Villagers managed to pull the boys out of the water and rushed them to the Kuala Perlis Health Clinic, but both were pronounced dead.
The bodies were later sent to HTF Kangar for post-mortem examination. Police have classified the case as sudden death (SDR).
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
