General view of Sungai Jahang. -Bernamapic
KUALA LUMPUR: A man who tragically drowned in a water surge while participating in a rafting activity had sent a video of the river to his mother just hours before the incident occurred.
Muhammad Ikram Abdul Bari’s mother, 70-year-old Fatimah Walad, shared that her son had sent the video around three hours before the tragedy, and she had advised him to be careful.
"I told him to pray first because it was already noon. After that when the water level was rising, he took a video and sent it to me at around 3pm.
"He said mak, the water level is high," she said to Sinar Harian when met in Taman Permata, Jitra on Saturday (Nov 16).
Fatimah, who lives alone and has heart problems, said she was unaware of the tragedy until later that evening.
Muhammad Ikram, 29, was the youngest of her four children.
"I wondered why my other son came over with his children on Friday evening. They didn’t tell me what had happened right away because they were worried about me, knowing I have a heart condition," she explained.
She also spoke fondly of her late son’s close relationship with his daughter, who is one year and seven months old.
"In the last two weeks, he would cuddle his daughter and let her fall asleep in his arms," Fatimah recalled.
Muhammad Ikram, a Langkawi Public Works Department (JKR) customer service officer, had been stationed there for the past three years, said Fatimah.
He had moved there after getting married, while his wife, Nur Afifah Amira Ahmad Fauzi, 29, worked at a bank and stayed at her parents' home in Kedah with their daughter.
Mohd Faris Mohd Husin, 30, a friend of Muhammad Ikram and a colleague at Pendang JKR, said he had tried to contact him at around 4pm on Friday (Nov 15) after hearing about the water rafting accident.
"I checked with other friends and found out that he was one of the three who drowned," said Mohd Faris.
Muhammad Ikram's body was brought back from Perak on Saturday morning and is expected to be buried at the Masjid Ar Rahmah cemetery in Kampung Melele, Kodiang, Kedah.
The water rafting tragedy occurred on Friday in Sungai Jahang, near Gopeng, where three people were swept away by strong currents.
The victims also included 47-year-old Suhaili Mat Saad, a Central Seberang Perai JKR engineer, and 37-year-old Mohamad Khairul Hakim, a senior assistant engineer from Langkawi JKR.
The incident is believed to have been caused by continuous heavy rainfall, which led to a sudden rise in the water level of the river, capsizing the raft carrying six passengers and a guide.
