SAR personnel comforting Tahir, who broke down upon seeing his daughter’s body.
LIMBANG: The body of a SK Pahlawan student which was reportedly washed away by strong currents in a stream on Thursday has been found.
Clad in an orange baju kurung, seven-year-old Siti Nor Hirdah Tahir’s body was found at 10am yesterday by villagers taking part in the search and rescue (SAR) operation.
“Siti’s body was found by villagers some 500 metres from the location where she was reported missing. It has been sent to Limbang Hospital for a post-mortem,” said SAR coordinator Inspector Ahmad Iswaizani Ahamad Ismail.
Relating the incident, a family member who only wanted to be known as Murhamit, 46, said that Siti was on her way home from a religious class with her aunty Masni Amit at around 5pm on that fateful day.
“As it was raining heavily, they decided to take a shortcut, crossing a stream near their home which is about four feet deep. Siti held on to her aunt’s hand but was swept away by the strong current,” he said.
Her father, Tahir Amit, said he rushed to the scene upon hearing shouts of help and frantically tried to locate her, but failed.
“Upon hearing her shouts, I rushed to the scene but the weather coupled with strong currents hampered the search,” he said in-between sobs.
Siti was the eldest of three siblings.
Meanwhile, Bomba officer II, Mohamad Ali Mohd Salleh said the SAR efforts went on until her body was found yesterday.
“Darkness, heavy rain and strong currents hampered the operation to find the girl,” he lamented.
Over 50 people including villagers and personnel from the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba), the police, Rela and Civil Defence Department were involved in the search.