By Nancy Nais
KUCHING, March 19: A man in his 30s is believed to have fallen into the Sarawak River this evening.
Despite an hour of water search, rescuers failed to locate the man.
Kuching zone fire chief PgKB I Yusri Basri disclosed that as the weather was getting dark by 7pm and due to safety, search and rescue operations (SAR) will continue tomorrow.
The fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) operations centre received an emergency call at 3.48pm informing them that a man had fallen into the river near Kampung Boyan, next to Fort Margherita.
According to an eyewitness, the man was seen walking along Kampung Boyan jetty to Pengkalan Sapi Astana where he fell and did not resurface.
Rescuers led by PBK I Wan Umar Wan Alek consisted of 15 firefighters from Petra Jaya and Batu Lintang including its water rescue unit (PPDA) was immediately dispatched to the scene.
They spent about an hour conducting a water surface search within 500 meters from where the victim was last seen.
As at 7.05pm, they could not locate the victim.
Other agencies from marine police and civil defence were also at the scene to assist in the search and rescue. – DayakDaily
