[ad_1]
KOTA KINABALU: The bodies of two preschool-age brothers who were in a vehicle that was washed away by the rapid Liawan River in the interior of Sabah, Keningau, have been recovered, four days after their disappearance.
Sabah Fire and Rescue Department Director Kamarulzaman Malik Abdullah confirmed that the children’s bodies were found in two separate locations 10 minutes apart by different teams combing the river and its tributaries downstream, around 2 pm on Thursday (November 12).
He said four-year-old Amber Lim Ze Yee was found along the Pegalan River in Keningau (11 km from where the tragedy occurred) while her six-year-old brother Jason Lim Ze Hao was recovered in a river in the Kampung Jawa Sembuling area in Melalap, Tenom. , a neighboring district of Keningau, 19 km.
“They were found quite a long way from the area where they disappeared,” said Kamarulzaman, who was overseeing the operations, on Thursday (November 12).
Kamarulzaman informed family members, including the brothers’ parents, of the recovery of the bodies.
Amber and Jason went missing after a pickup truck driven by their father Lim Wah Shing was swept across a flooded low bridge around midnight Monday.
Lim, 38, managed to get out of the vehicle but was unable to save her children when her four-wheel drive vehicle slid into the fast-flowing river.
He was also injured in the accident and received treatment at the hospital.
Firefighters managed to locate the vehicle near the bridge but without the children inside, both are believed to have floated downstream.
More than 100 search and rescue operations were organized, involving 59 members of the police, the Malaysian Maritime Control Agency and Rela, as well as families of the victims and villagers.
The four-day search was extended over the past few days to cover tributaries of the Liawan River that include the Pegalan River and the Padas River, covering an area of about 50 km.
Previously, villagers said the vehicle was pushed by strong currents after it was washed away by the Kampung Dungulap Bridge over the Liawan River.
They said the father managed to get out of the vehicle but was unable to help his sons escape as his four-wheel drive truck was thrown into the fast-flowing river after heavy rains on its upper reaches in the Crocker Range on the Monday.
The father managed to swim to the river bank and was helped by the villagers who contacted the authorities for help.
The family was on their way from Kampung Dungulap to their home in Kampung Ansip.
[ad_2]
