Fire and Rescue Department beef up efforts to track boy feared drowned in Cheras

The Star, Saturday January 4, 2014 

by natasha joibi

Fire and ResuceDepartment personnel combing the drain for Salman's body on Friday.

PETALING JAYA: The search for a 11-year-old boy feared drowned in Cheras continued as the district Fire and Rescue station beefed up efforts to track him down.

District station chief Safiq Noor said they had new leads on where the boy, Salman Mokhtar, could be found.

“We have received a report from a witness who saw him in a river in the nearby town of Sungai Chua in Kajang,” he said.

Safiq said based on this information, the district station had set up a control centre at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and would concentrate its search efforts in Sungai Langat.

However, he said it could only continue its search effort Sunday as river currents were currently strong.

It is learnt that additional manpower would be recruited from nearby fire and rescue departments to assist in the rescue mission.

“We will continue our search efforts until the boy is found,” said Safiq. 

 

Salman was reportedly crossing a small drain along Jalan Suasana 2/7 in Bandar Tun Hussein Onn at 4.30pm on Friday when he slipped and fell into it.

Rescuers from the Kajang fire station were the first to respond following an emergency call at 4.45pm.

He is presumed to have been washed away and rescuers have been combing the drainage system to find him.