HULU SELANGOR – Sg Balak at Jalan Genting Lama-Batang Kali here, where a father and two of his children drowned today, has been the site of previous tragedies.
The area is a popular picnic and swimming spot, but it also has swirling pools with strong currents, according to news reports of a drowning there in 2021.
In September of that year, 23-year-old Sunny Dell Ashraff Sa’ari of Asam Jawa, Kuala Selangor, died while swimming in the river with friends.
The Selangor Fire and Rescue Department was reported to have said then that he was trapped underwater when he encountered a whirlpool.
On January 16, 2022, 19-year-old Muhammad Hamirul Abdullah from Segambut Tengah, Kuala Lumpur, drowned in the same river at a depth of about 3m, according to the Fire Department.
He had been swimming with friends who realised he had gone missing at around 7pm. He was found drowned at 10.30pm in the river.
In today’s tragedy, father Arif Fadzil Abdul Saleh, 43, drowned while trying to save his two children, his son Malik, 6, and daughter Damia, 9.
He and his wife had been on a picnic by the river with their seven children.
According to a relative, his wife, Azimah Azaha, pulled their bodies out of the water and was the one who called the authorities. – May 5, 2024