ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES – A 40-year-old man drowned while rescuing his five-year-old son, who was trapped in a car that fell into a river near a village in the district of Putatan in Sabah, Malaysia.
Search and rescue workers recovered the body of Lasibi Lawadihu from the river in Kampung Imbahan at 9am yesterday after he jumped into the river to save his son from the car, which rolled down to the river while he was fishing on the bank at 5.30pm the day before.
His body was spotted with the help of a police drone during search and rescue operations. His body was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for post-mortem.
Lasibi is said to have jumped into the river after the Perodua Myvi rolled and plunged into the river while his son, Mushab Umair Lasibi, five, was inside.
Penampang district police chief Mohd Haris Ibrahim told reporters that before the incident, the victim was on the river bank and was fishing while his son was in the vehicle, which was parked nearby with the engine running.
However, Mohd Haris said, the vehicle suddenly moved before plunging into the river and Lasibi jumped in to save his son.
“The victim is said to have managed to get his son out of the vehicle before being helped by a man who happened to be there fishing.
“The man took the child, (but) the victim apparently disappeared under the water,” said Mohd Haris.
The rescued child was sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for further treatment on Sunday evening.
