A 12-year-old boy drowned in a Pekan irrigation canal after being swept away while fishing with his younger brother.
PEKAN: A 12-year-old boy was found drowned in an irrigation canal in Kampung Permatang Gepung, Nenasi near here.
Pekan police chief Supt Mohd Zaidi Mat Zin said the victim, identified as Muhammad Alif Fahmi Abdullah, was believed to have been swept away while catching fish in the canal with his younger brother at about 6.30 pm.
Initial investigations found the victim had initially gone to the canal with his mother and three siblings at about 5.30 pm.
He later returned to the location without his parents’ knowledge, accompanied by his younger brother and two friends.
“While catching fish, the victim was swept away by the current,” Mohd Zaidi said in a statement.
His younger brother and two friends then sought help from nearby villagers, who immediately searched the area.
The victim was later found in a two-metre-deep canal.
Villagers brought the boy home before medical officers from the Nenasi Health Clinic arrived and confirmed his death.
The body was subsequently sent to the Pekan District Hospital Forensic Unit for a post-mortem.
The post-mortem confirmed that the cause of death was drowning.
