A 40-year-old man tragically lost his life while he was saving his 5-year-old son from a sinking car in Sabah.
The Star reported that the incident occurred at a river in Kampung Imbahan in Putatan, Kota Kinabalu on Sunday (Mar 26).
Father drowns while saving son from sinking car
Penampang district police chief Deputy Supt Mohd Haris Ibrahim told the English daily that the victim, Lasibi Lawahidu, was fishing on the bank of the river while his son, Mushab Umair Lasibi was inside the Perodua Myvi.
The Myvi, which had his engine running at the time, suddenly moved forward and fell into the river.
“The victim immediately jumped into the river to rescue his son and managed to get him out with the help of another man who was fishing there as well.
“However, after pulling the child out of the river, the victim disappeared under the water and was nowhere to be found,” he said.
The 5-year-old was then sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (HQE) for further treatment that evening.
Body found after 16 hours
A search and rescue team mission for the victim was immediately carried out following the incident at 5.53pm, with nearly 70 personnel from various security agencies involved in the operation.
Lawahidu’s body was eventually recovered yesterday (March 27) at 9am, where it was located 300 meters away from where he was last seen.
His body was later sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for a post-mortem.
Mohd Haris urged residents in the area to refrain from engaging in leisure activities such as fishing in the river to avoid similar tragedies in the future.
RIP to the victim and our condolences to his family for their loss.
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