Bodies of 2 siblings washed away by floodwaters in Sabah found

 

The body of one of the siblings placed on a stretcher after being found by rescuers in interior Tenom today.

KOTA KINABALU: The search for two young siblings who went missing after their vehicle was swept away by floodwaters in Sabah’s interior Keningau district ended on a sad note after rescuers found their remains today.

The bodies of Amber Lim, 4, and Jason Lim, 6, were found in separate locations in neighbouring district Tenom. They were reported missing at Sungai Liawan in Kampung Dangulad in Keningau last Monday.

Rescuers found Amber’s body at Sungai Pegalan, near Kampung Jawa Sumbiling in Tenom at 2.15pm, while the body of Jason was found 10 minutes later at Sungai Sigapon, about 3km from where his younger sister was discovered.

Keningau fire chief Yuszaimi Hairrul Azwan Juatan said Amber and Jason were found 19km and 21km respectively from the original site where they went missing.

“Both victims were pulled out from the river and later handed over to the police,” he said, adding the search and rescue operation also involved the civil defence department, Rela, scouts as well as villagers.

In the 12.08am incident last Monday, the four-wheel drive (4WD) vehicle driven by their father was swept away by strong currents while crossing a bridge in Kampung Dangulad after water levels at Sungai Liawan suddenly rose.

The search for Amber Lim (left) and Jason Lim (right, back) ended on a sad note today.

Keningau fire and rescue department chief Mudi Pengiran said the father was separated from the two children during the incident but that the siblings were still in the vehicle as it was swept away.

Mudi had said this latest incident was the third case of vehicles being swept away while crossing the same bridge at Sungai Liawan in recent years.

He said the first incident took place in 2018 and the next was last year where rescuers only managed to locate the vehicle but not the bodies of the victims. - FMT