The search and rescue team looking for the missing plantation worker at Kampung Sangau, Kinabatangan River.
KINABATANGAN: The body of a 40-year-old plantation worker believed to have been attacked by a crocodile while fishing near Kampung Sangau on the Kinabatangan River, was found yesterday afternoon.
The victim, identified as Husin Haris, had gone fishing in the river with three friends around 4pm on Sunday.
District chief police Superintendent A. Sahak Rahmat said the police were alerted on the incident after the victim’s friends saw him vanish after he went to wash his face at the riverbank, some 20 metres away from their fishing spot.
“The victim’s friends reportedly saw splashing of the river water and spotting a crocodile emerging from under the water after the victim vanished.
“In panic at what they had just seen, the victim’s friends rushed home to their worker’s quarters at Syarimo Estate to inform their estate manager of the incident,” A. Sahak said.
After receiving the information, a police team from the Kinabatangan police station, together with a team of rescuers from the Kinabatangan Fire and Rescue Department and the Wildlife Department, rushed to the scene.
The search and rescue team began searching for the victim until the body was found afloat about 80 feet from where he was attacked around 3.45 pm.
From an external examination, the victim, who was clad only in black short pants, had sustained injuries from the shoulder to the right hand and chest, apparently that of an attack by a crocodile.