A family outing turned tragic when three cousins drowned at a waterfall in Ulu Yam Baru

Family trip turns tragic
By RASHITHA A. HAMID and M. KUMAR
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

HULU SELANGOR: A family outing turned tragic when three cousins drowned at a waterfall in Ulu Yam Baru here.

The cousins and five others, including the family driver, had reached the Sendat waterfall at about 1pm yesterday but tragedy struck barely 20 minutes after that.

Two of the victims – Kok Soo Dee, 19, and Tew Chew Ying, 13 – had rushed to the top of the waterfall ahead of the family. Their cousin, 10-year-old Tan Ching Wee, who was at the bottom of the waterfall, decided to join them.

Uncontrolled grief: A family member of the victims crying at the hospital yesterday.

Driver Sami Kimen, 43, said the young boy started to scream when he saw the two girls being sucked into a whirlpool at the waterfall.

However, Ching Wee also fell into the swirling water.

Sami said he had earlier advised the youngsters not to go up as it could be dangerous.

“But being kids, Soo Dee and Chew Ying insisted and went up, leaving the other family members behind,” he added.

“I rushed to help them but by the time I managed to pull them from the water, they were no longer breathing,” he said at the Kuala Kubu Baru Hospital mortuary where the bodies were sent for post-mortem.

Chew Ying’s distraught mother, Kok Soo Peng, couldn’t contain her emotions and she fainted after crying uncontrollably.

It is learnt that Soo Peng, a widow, had brought the children to the waterfall for a picnic before the start of the new school term on Monday.

The family from Klang had initially planned a trip to Morib but the children insisted on going to the waterfall instead.

Soo Dee’s elder brother, who only wished to be known as Alan, in his 30s, said when the incident happened, a few people jumped into the water to try to rescue them but to no avail. The bodies were later taken to their home in Klang after midnight.

Hulu Selangor OCPD Supt Norel Azmi Affandi Yahya said police were waiting for the post-mortem reports to ascertain the cause of the deaths.