By : M. Hamzah Jamaludin

KUANTAN, MALAYSIA: Perhaps a bridge is not the best place to have an argument.

A 45-year-old woman discovered this on Monday night when the man she argued with allegedly pushed her off the Bukit Rangin bridge and into the river 20m below.

The woman, however, managed to swim to the riverbank, where she clung to the branches of a mangrove tree for more than three hours until she was rescued by marine police, who were alerted by two anglers who witnessed the incident.

Kuantan marine police commander Assistant Superintendent Abdul Rahman Munaf, who led the search and rescue team, said the woman was found perched on the mangrove tree at 3.15am yesterday.

"We found her when she cried for help.

"She asked for cloth from us to cover herself as she was only clad in a blouse and her panties," said Rahman who arrived at the scene with seven men in two boats.

The woman had apparently taken off her pants, which were hindering her from swimming to safety.

"We later sent her to the hospital."

District police chief Assistant Commissioner Jasmani Yusoff said police arrested a lorry driver at his home here at 5am yesterday.

He said the case had been classified as attempted murder.

-- New Straits Times / Asia News Network