Second year student makes fatal leap

0

FATAL LEAP: Policemen prepare to transport the victim’s body to the mortuary following the recovery operation.

KOTA SAMARAHAN: A second-year Civil Engineering student drowned after he leapt off a bridge into a man-made lake in the grounds of Unimas campus here yesterday.

The deceased has been identified as Sachess Qaspie Marimuthu, 21, from Sabah.

The incident occurred shortly after 2pm when Sachess, who was earlier seen standing alone on the bridge across the lake carrying a backpack, climbed over the railing and plunged into the water below.

Horrified witnesses immediately called the Samarahan fire station, which despatched a team of rescuers to scour the lake for the victim.

Bomba officer-in-charge Ahamarie Juhai, when contacted yesterday, said 10 personnel were involved in the operation that ended at 3.38pm when Sachess’ body was recovered from the bottom of the lake.

Several students said that a search of the victim’s backpack found it contained a large rock, which they believed had been intended to weigh him down.

Meanwhile, there were also rumours going around campus that Sachess had sent a text message to several friends to inform them he was ‘leaving’ prior to the fatal leap.

The incident has been classified as sudden death pending a police investigation.