CHUKAI: Drones are being used on the fourth day of the search and rescue (SAR) operation to locate two more missing victims of the Jeram Air Putih water surge tragedy here.
Malaysian Fire and Rescue Academy drone unit commander Mohd Taufiq Abd Satar said the Matrice 210 drone is being deployed to monitor hard-to- reach areas and where the victims were last seen.
“We will conduct periodic air monitoring and detection in strategic locations where SAR teams are finding it difficult to reach. This includes under bridges or areas with many wooden obstacles,” he said when met on the banks of Sungai Seberang Tayor. “As ‘eyes in the sky’, the drone has the capability of moving quickly.”
Putri Nur Fatin Karim, 14, and Muhammad Fikri Saliman, 24, are still missing, while the bodies of the other eight victims have been found.
Yesterday’s search was focused on sectors B and C, with the SAR team in sector A reduced to only 20 personnel involving the police and Fire and Rescue Department as well as the K9 tracker dog unit.
The search in sector B has been divided into two subsections comprising 30 and 38 personnel respectively, whereas the remaining SAR members will focus between sector C and the garbage trap area in Sungai Kemaman.
According to Terengganu Fire and Rescue Department Zone 2 chief, Senior Supt II Azman Alias, a team of divers from the department’s Water Rescue Team and Marine Police will also be mobilised for the search.
He added that the search methods would be expanded to include search on land and via water rafting in addition to using the tracker dogs, he said when met at the Air Putih police station’s operations control centre.
“The weather condition is good and the water level of the river has returned to normal since it did not rain on Tuesday,” he added, Bernama reported.
The family of nine from Felda Lepar Hilir, Kuantan, and another individual from Batu Pahat, who was engaged to a member of the family, had gone on a picnic to the Air Putih waterfalls on Saturday.
They are believed to have been swept away by strong currents caused by the water surge.
The bodies of eight of the victims have been found, with seven of them buried on Tuesday night.
The remains of Azizah Eiyi, 40, her husband Karim Abdullah, 39, and their five children, Muhammad Zulqarnain Haikal Karim, 11; Putri Nurerina Natasya Karim, 10; Muhammad Haziq Ziqree Karim, six; Putri Aryana Umaira Karim, four; and Putri Balqis Izzati Abdul Rahman, 18, were buried in one grave.
The body of the eighth victim, Putri Alleya Maisarah Karim, 16, which was found on Tuesday, was still being held at the hospital mortuary.
In Kuantan, family members and relatives of the victims are relieved that they have been able to fulfil their responsibilities of burying their loved ones.
They expressed gratitude to those who helped to recover the bodies of the victims.
Mohd Ismail Eiyi, 36, Azizah’s younger brother, said the family was relieved.
“Alhamdulillah, the burial went smoothly. Although we were able to bury only seven of them, it is all right,” he told reporters after the funeral at the Felda Lepar Hilir 3 Islamic cemetery on Tuesday night.The bodies of the seven victims arrived in seven hearses accompanied by a police patrol car from Hospital Sultanah Nur Zahirah, Kuala Terengganu and were first brought to the Ubbudiah Mosque for the funeral prayers.
Also present at the funeral were Pahang Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, Felda chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek and Pahang police chief Datuk Yahaya Othman.
Mohd Ismail said the family was now preparing for the funeral of Putri Alleya and also praying that his other niece, Putri Nur Fatin, would be found.
Muhammad Fikri from Batu Pahat is the fiance of Putri Balqis Izzati.
