Rescue workers carrying the body into a police truck.
KOTA KINABALU: A couple’s noble intention to send food to flood victims ended in tragedy when the wife drowned in Penampang near here.
In the incident, the husband and wife had decided to wade through floodwaters to deliver food in Donggongon town shortly before 10pm on Sunday.
The wife, identified as Monica Ting Siew Kwong, 37, was swept away by strong currents while wading through floodwaters at the Sigah roundabout along the Jalan Penampang by-pass.
Penampang police chief Supt Sammy Newton said the couple had earlier gotten out from their car, which became stuck in the floods.
“Both of them fell into a drain. The husband managed to save himself.
“However, his wife was washed away by the strong currents,” he said in a statement yesterday.
It is learnt that Ting’s husband, 39, had tried frantically to hold on to her, but she slipped and was swept away.
He alerted the Civil Defence Force (APM) and the police, who were carrying out rescue work in the area.
Supt Sammy said rescuers searched for the woman, but they had to stop at 11pm due to rising floodwaters and strong currents.
They resumed the search operation early yesterday.
At about 8am, Ting’s body was found lodged in tree branches in Kampung Hungab, about 500m from where she was last seen.
Supt Sammy said the body was sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for a post-mortem.
