Youngster drowned in an unsecured abandoned pool

Youngster Mohd. Zaidi Sariffudin, 12, was found drown  in an abandoned pool near the Majidee military camp in Kampong Bakar Batu here yesterday.

The body was found at the bottom of the pool at 9.22pm by the scuba diving team from the Fire and Rescue department.

A badly shaken Mohd Ihsan Zulkifli, 13, was trying to relate how the unfortunate incident happened.

He said, he and the deceased went to have a swim in the abandoned pool at about 3pm.

Another friend, Mohd Khairil Ashraf Hasni,11 came and join us minutes later.

After about an hour, I went ashore and urged the rest to do so.

“I saw my two friends were still playing in the pool and seconds later when I turned and look back again, the deceased is missing.”

Mohd Khairil and myself wanted to help but since both of us were of small body built, we were afraid to swim to the centre of the pool to save the deceased, said Mohd Ihsan.

The deceased is the third child of Sarifudin Othman, 42, who stayed in the  Seri Stulang flat which is a walking distance to the abandoned pool.

Noraimira Sarifudin, 19, elder sister of the deceased said that she was informed about the fatal incidence by her parents at about 9pm.

She added that his brother is a jovial person and likes to roam around with his friends in the neighbourhood.

Meanwhile, officer Zaidin Ariffin from the Fire and Rescue department scuba diving team said the department received the distress call at about 8.05pm and rushed to the scene in about 10 minutes after receiving the call.

The body of the deceased was taken to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital and was later claimed by the family.