[UPDATED] Baling floods: bodies of three missing family members found

BALING – Three members of a family, including a four-month pregnant woman, went missing after strong currents swept their house away when floods hit Kg Iboi, Kupang here yesterday.

The bodies of all three family members have been found today.

They are housewife Salmah Mat Akib, 53, her pregnant daughter-in-law Nurul Anis Abu Hassan, 23, and son Mohd Khairul Ikhwan Nor Azman, 14.

The Fire and Rescue Department announced today that Salmah and Anis were found dead at about 9.30am, while Khairul Ikhwan was found at 11.55am. 

Salmah’s husband, Abd Rahman Said, 71, said prior to that, he received a call from Anis to inform him about the rising floodwaters.

“It was about 4pm and I was not at home, but when I got home, the house was no longer there and the bridge had also been swept away,” he said when met by reporters at the flood relief centre at SMK Jerai here today.

He said the flood was the worst to hit the area.

Anis’ husband, Khairul Ashraf Nor Azman, 24, said he was at work in Penang and immediately rushed home when told by his sister about the incident.

“I had planned to come home today to take her for her maternity check-up,” he said, adding that his wife is pregnant with their first child.

Married last February, the couple resided in Penang before the wife decided to move in with her mother-in-law to help look after the older woman who is bedridden following a stroke.

Meanwhile, Baling district police chief Shamsudin Mamat confirmed receiving a report on the missing three family members, aged between 14 and 53, in the flooding incident at Kg Iboi here yesterday.

He said the police had launched a search and rescue operation yesterday, before halting it at about 2am due to limited visibility,

“The operation could not continue as the area was dark,” he said, adding that the search and rescue operation would continue at around 7am today. – Bernama, July 5, 2022