KOTA KINABALU: A search is on for a man who has gone missing following a crocodile attack at the northern Kota Belud district, some 120km from here.
Yusri Dulpi was fishing at the Mantanani jetty when it was believed the reptile lunged at him before pulling the 20-year-old man into the water late Friday (Sept 22).
A Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said they received a call over the incident at 11.26pm.
“The team immediately scoured the waters around the jetty but failed to locate the victim,” he said, adding that the search was postponed for the night.
The operation involving other rescue agencies including the police, Civil Defence Force (APM) and Sabah Wildlife Department was resumed at 6.58am on Saturday (Sept 23).
The spokesman said the search has been expanded to cover a radius of 1km from the riverbank.
“We have yet to find the victim but will provide updates on the search from time to time,” he said.
This is the second attack in over 48 hours in Sabah after a 23-year-old oil palm plantation worker was killed by a crocodile in the east coast Lahad Datu district on Wednesday (Sept 20).
In the pre-dawn attack, four men were trapping crabs in waters off Kampung Tinagian, Tanjung Labian, when the man was snatched by the reptile.
The three friends could only watch as the attack happened in the blink of an eye.
The man’s body was later found at 7.20am on the beach near an army post in Kampung Tanjung Batu, some 5km away.
