By Selangor Journal Staff
SERDANG: Six Fire and Rescue Department diver died after they were taken away by strong currents and caught in a whirlpool.
The six was on a mission to search for a 17-year-old male teenager who was assumed drowned after falling into a mining pond in Taman Putra Perdana, Puchong.
Sepang district police chief ACP Abdul Aziz Ali said the divers were following their standard operating procedures (SOP), carrying out the mission in complete diving equipment, tied to a single rope.
He said the unit went down to the pond at 9.15pm last night to begin the search for the teen who slipped and fell in the water while fishing with his friends.
“A strong current occurred in the area causing the victims to spin in the water while all their equipment came off,” he told reporters at the scene.
He said the victims had struggled in the water for about 30 minutes while other personnel tried to rescue them.
They were all unconscious by the time they were pulled out of the water.
Meanwhile, Selangor Fire and Rescue Department chief Azmi Osman said the divers were brought to the banks of the pond and were given CPR, but to no avail.
He also said the teen had yet to be found.
The search and rescue operation to locate the teenager resumed at 7.30am earlier with a team from the Port Klang Marine Operations Force.
Four of the divers who died were from the Port Klang fire and rescue station: Mohd Fatah Hashim, 34; Izatul Akma Wan Ibrahim, 32; Mazlan Omarbaki, 25; and Yahya Ali, 24.
The other two, Adnan Othman, 33; and Muhammad Hifdzul Malik Shaari, 25 were from the Shah Alam fire and rescue station.
