3 drown as boat capsizes off beach

LAHAD DATU - Three women drowned when their boat capsized off Kahapan beach here at noon yesterday.

District police chief Superintendent Samsudin Mat said the dead were Noristikoma Sadik, 18, Norhayati Hasan, 50, and Ani Udin, 17.

He said the victims and their relatives had come to the beach for a picnic during the Workers' Day holiday. They boarded the boat for a sightseeing trip and when the accident happened, they were not wearing life jackets.

The other boat passengers managed to swim to safety while the three women, who did not know how to swim, drowned.

Another victim, Esa Sahid, 36, was rescued and sent to Lahad Datu Hospital and in stable condition.

The bodies of Noristikoma and Norhayati were found near the spot where the boat capsized. Ani died on the way to the hospital.

In Marang, Terengganu, a 14-year-old boy was swept away while swimming in a river and is feared to have drowned.

Md Harith Iskandar Md Fuad, a Form Two student of SMA Marang, went to Sungai Kerak in the morning with six friends to look for clams.

After a few hours, they rested at a jetty at 2.45pm and Harith decided to go for a swim. He jumped into the river but was swept away by the strong current.

One of his friends jumped in and managed to grab him for a moment before losing him again. As of 7pm yesterday, he had yet to be found.

In Kuantan, Bernama reports that a Universiti Malaysia Pahang student is feared to have drowned after being swept away while swimming at Bekelah waterfall near Gambang yesterday.

Ang Kent Chin, 21, went to the waterfall at 8am with other students for a co-curriculum activity and was reported missing at 10.30am.

Pahang Fire and Rescue Department public relations officer Anuar Hassan said the department sent a team to the scene shortly after being informed of the incident.