A 12-year-old boy allegedly drowned in a pool at the Sungai Batu Pahat Recreational Park in Kangar on Sunday.
At about 3pm on Dec 17, a group of teenagers stumbled upon the body of Syawal Aiman Ismail while they were taking a dip in the pool.
The victim’s sister who declined to be named, said Syawal, the youngest child in the family, left home with his 12 friends at about 10am.
She said the deceased, who did not know how to swim, had cycled to the park with his friends.
She was informed of the tragic incident by policemen who came to their house.
According to park visitor Adzlin Junaira Mohd Nasir, 35, he was resting at a hut near the pool at noon when a group of boys stopped by asking him whether he had seen one of their friends, the New Straits Times reported.
“I told them I didn’t see the boy they were looking for and they left.
“However, about an hour later, another group of boys came to me in a haste, telling me that they had stepped on someone’s feet while taking a dip in the pool,” Adzlin was quoted as saying.
He then alerted the police and Fire and Rescue Department and they arrived to retrieve the victim’s body from the bottom of the pool.
Confirming the incident, Kangar police chief Superintendent Wari Kiew said police have classified the case as sudden death.