9-year-old boy dies in jet ski accident at Batu Ferringhi

His family, from Selangor, had gone to Penang for the school holidays.

The boy died of brain injuries despite first aid being given to him. (Bernama pic)

GEORGE TOWN: A two-night trip to Penang turned into a tragedy for a family from Selangor when a nine-year-old boy was killed in a jet ski incident at the Batu Ferringhi beach yesterday evening.

In the 7.30pm incident, Jordan Phang Wen Jie, from Taman Megah, Kelana Jaya, in Selangor, died after the jetski he was on crashed into his mother’s jet ski due to strong waves.

Northeast police chief ACP Anuar Omar said Phang was riding pillion with a watersports instructor operating the machine at the time.

Phang’s mother was not hurt in the incident.

The jet skis were rented from a sports operator at the beach.

“A lifeguard from the hotel performed cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on the boy but he did not respond and was taken to the Penang Hospital,” he said.

He said a post-mortem later revealed that Phang suffered injuries to the brain and spinal cord.

Anuar said the family was on a two-night holiday in Batu Ferringhi and was supposed to check out tomorrow.

Watersports-related accidents are not uncommon at the Batu Ferringhi beach, with most cases caused by negligence.

However, the latest incident involving a jet ski is rare.

Previously, there were many cases of serious injuries and deaths but these were mostly due to parasailing, which is another popular beach activity in Penang.

The problem appeared to worsen in 2016 and there was a crackdown on operators to ensure greater priority on safety.

The beach activities in Batu Ferringhi had been largely criticised for the lack of safety measures as many parasailers landed on trees, broke limbs and bruised themselves while landing or when they were flung sideways due to choppy winds.

The city council had since banned parasailing at the beachside and ordered parasailers to only take off at sea using winch-boats.

Beach sports operators claim they followed safety guidelines and blamed customers for ignoring safety briefings.

An operator was also reported as saying that many overweight people insisted on using the parasail despite weight restrictions and inherent dangers.

Poor weather was also blamed for causing some accidents.

According to city council statistics, there were 13 beach accidents in the first nine months of 2016. In 2015, there were 20 such incidents.

The latest statistics is unavailable. -FMT