Duo played drowning victims

Two who joined simulated exercise die the same way a week later

KLANG: Only a week ago, Fire and Rescue Department divers Izatul Akma Wan Ibrahim and Yahya Ali participated in a simulated rescue mission in stormy waters.

Both played drowning victims in the exercise that was recorded and televised over a popular morning talk show.

So when Izatul Akma, 32, and Yahya, 24, died in a similar fashion on Wednesday night, his colleagues were shocked beyond words.

When met at the Port Klang fire station, Sarbani Abdullah, 22, who “rescued” Yahya in the demonstration, said he still could not believe that the two, who were from the department’s water rescue unit, died just days after they pretended to drown.

The station was shrouded in melancholy as the firemen sat around talking and consoling each other.

Six of their colleagues died while searching for a teenager in a mining pool in Taman Putra Perdana, Puchong.

“Everything seems to be a blur. We are trying to understand and accept what happened to our friends,” said fire engine driver Mohd Bakri Ismail, 37.

“All of us have a special bond as we spend so much time together,” he said.

Mohd Bakri added that since the firemen could not be away from the station while on duty, they would cook and eat together like a family daily.

The Selangor Fire and Rescue Department’s water rescue unit divers are based in the Port Klang and Shah Alam stations.

Apart from Izatul Akma and Yahya, the others stationed in Port Klang were Mohd Fatah Hashim, 34, and Mazlan Omarbaki, 25, while Adnan Othman, 33, and Muhammad Hifdzul Malik Shaari, 25, were from the Shah Alam station.

Azwan Buang Si, 24, also a diver, said the mishap should not have occurred as the team of six was only doing surface searching.

“I saw in the video recording that the water was only knee-deep initially but rose and became stronger,” he said.

(The pool appears to have a weir, which is a barrier to control the flow of water into rivers or catchment areas. The weir makes the water cascade, and during heavy flows, creates a rapid-like and whitewater effect.)