Siblings’ fishing trip ends in tragedy
DEVASTATED: Father finds 3 children drowned at favourite fishing spot
AFATHER was left devastated after he spotted his daughter’s body floating in a trench, while his two other children were nowhere to be seen, during a fishing trip in Kampung Permatang Jerik, Merchong here on Monday.
Mohd Rasid Mohd Daud, 49, pulled his daughter, Nor Aleeza Marliyana, 12, out of the muddy trench before trying to locate the whereabouts of Mohamad Firdaus, 11, and 7-year-old Nor Alia Mardiana.
Rasid, who is a padi farmer, called several passing villagers to help search for his two children, before their bodies were recovered lying at the bottom of the 2m-deep channel.
Rasid yesterday said he never expected the trench, located 300m from his house here, to claim the lives of his three children.
“The trench is our favourite fishing spot for ikan haruan (snakehead murrel) and Firdaus would usually accompany me there. We even went fishing there on Monday morning.
“Aleeza and Alia had never been there, and it was their first fishing trip. Sadly, it turned out to be their last.”
Rasid said the three children, who studied at SK Merchong Jaya, had informed him before leaving the house with bamboo fishing rods at 2pm.
“After some time, it began to rain. I was worried as they had yet to return home and decided to check on them. Although the fishing spot is just in front of my house, I felt uneasy when I could not see anyone.
“When I arrived at the trench, I was shocked to see Aleeza’s floating body, and hurried to lift her onto the bank.
“As I searched for Firdaus and Alia, some friends and neighbours joined me in the trench,” he said, adding that several minutes later, they discovered the two bodies lying at the bottom of the excavated trench.
Rasid said he and the villagers then brought the bodies to his house before breaking the news to his wife, who was at home with their youngest daughter, Suraya, 3.
He said the bodies were taken to Pekan Hospital for a post-mortem before being buried in one grave at the Kampung Permatang burial ground at 1am yesterday.
It was learnt that the victims might have slipped and fell into the trench due to the soft soil surface caused by an earlier downpour.
It was a heart-wrenching scene at Rasid’s house yesterday as Suraya cut a forlorn figure near a spot where the siblings used to play.
Rasid said Suraya knew that her siblings were no longer around after seeing their bodies at the hospital, but she was still too young and it would take her some time before understanding what had happened to them.
A villager, who wished to remain anonymous, said the trench was dug several years ago to prevent lorries from entering the nearby oil palm plantation and, since it was located near a swampy area, the channel was always filled with water.