Nine students drown in Malaysia

Nine students drown in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (UPI): Nine students drowned in two separate incidents, four in the northern state of Kedah and five in the central state of Pahang, Malaysian Police Superintendent Hashim Osman said yesterday.

A 10-year-old boy and four teenagers, two of them sisters, drowned on Christmas Day in a tragic end to a heroic bid to save a 17-year-old youth who had fallen a the river, he said.

Sheikh Ahmad Salehuddin screamed to others not to come after him as he fought to save himself, but the five -- including his 10-year-old brother, Sheikh Mohamed Nasir -- went to his rescue and were swept away by strong river currents.

Sheikh Ahmad managed to pull himself out, but his young brother drowned with the two sisters -- Norimaliza, 16, and Norazlinda Abdul Manan, 17 -- Rafis Mohamed Saidon, 18, and Kamsiah Abdul Raffar, 16.

He said navy, police and villagers organized a search-and- rescue operation and recovered the bodies on Monday. In Kedah, four children, including two sisters and a brother, drowned in an unused mining pool on Monday, Hashim said.