GEORGE TOWN: A fireman, feared to have drowned after falling into Sungai Prai at the Fire and Rescue Department's jetty in Mak Mandin here, managed to call out his colleague's name before disappearing in the water.
His colleague, known as "Sam", said he immediately jumped into the river to help but to no avail.
Fire and Rescue Department director-general Datuk Nor Hisham Mohammad said victim Mohd Izwan Illian, 42, had just completed boat maintenance work and was going up the pontoon from the boat.
"His colleague was packing the equipment they used in the store room and the victim was in the process of tying the boat to a pontoon on the river bank.
"At that time, the colleague heard a scream calling his name 'Sam', and he realised that the victim was not in the boat because he was holding the engine switch and the boat had started to drift.
"The colleague immediately jumped into the river and searched for the victim for 20 minutes. But he failed to find him and immediately contacted the control centre for help," he said after monitoring the search operation in Sungai Prai here today.
The operation, which began last night, continued today.
Nor Hisham said the search team was using four methods to find the victim within a distance of one kilometre downstream and 500 metres upstream from where the victim fell.
"Members of the Water Rescue Team are diving under the river and a search on the surface is also carried out using bottom tugs.
"We also deployed a drone, in addition to using two tracker dogs to narrow down the search area.
"The search operation started at 7.30am and underwater search could only be done until 11am as the river conditions were not suitable.
"However, we will continue with the other methods until the victim is found," he added.
A total of 50 firefighters and nine boats were mobilised in the operation, including the marine police and local fishermen.
Nor Hisham said they faced difficulties due to strong currents and debris in Sungai Prai. Besides that, the mud on the river bed also made it difficult for the team to dive.
Izwan, a member of the Underwater Rescue Team of the Butterworth fire and rescue station, was said to have fallen into the river about 10pm. (Hyperlink: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/02/1016868/fireman-believed-have...)
The victim had worked with the department for 19 years. He has expertise and keen interest in boat engine repair, and does not have hydrophobia.