IPOH – Two 14-year-old schoolgirls were found dead after they were believed to have fallen from the upper floors of an abandoned residential building near Buntong here on Friday.
The incident at the Sungai Pari Flats was discovered by a security guard during a routine patrol, who then alerted the authorities.
The victims, who were close friends, attended the same secondary school in Ipoh and were enrolled in the afternoon session.
The mother of one of the victims, who wished to be known only as Seela, 36, said she had dropped off her daughter and her friend at school from their home in Menglembu at about 1pm.
However, at around 4.50pm, she received a phone call informing her that her daughter was at the abandoned housing complex.
"I managed to see her. She was still wearing her physical education (PE) uniform, the same clothes she had on when I dropped her off at school earlier.
"I don't know why my daughter was here. She had never come to a place like this before," she said when met at the scene.
Seela said she was still in shock and struggling to come to terms with the tragedy, adding that her daughter had never shown any changes in behaviour.
She said her second child of three siblings had also never complained about any problems at school.
"My daughter was rather quiet, but as far as I knew, everything related to her school and studies was fine.
"I sent her to school and picked her up every day. I never imagined something like this could happen to my daughter," she said.
The bodies were taken to Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital (HRPB) in Ipoh for post-mortem examinations after the forensic team completed investigations at the scene.
The Sungai Pari Flats, commonly known as the "Sungai Pari Tower" or "15th Floor", was once the tallest building in northern Malaya and an iconic landmark in Ipoh, recognised for its distinctive bowl-shaped roof.
The public housing project, built in 1963, was gradually vacated from 2012 onwards due to concerns over the building's structural integrity.
Meanwhile, Perak police chief Datuk Mohd Alwi Zainal Abidin said police received a report on the incident in the afternoon and initial investigations found that the two victims had left the school before they were found unconscious and later pronounced dead at the scene.
"So far, we have found no evidence of involvement by any other party. However, investigations are still ongoing, and the cause of death will only be known after the post-mortem and forensic reports are completed," he said in a statement last night.
He urged anyone with information about the incident to contact the Ipoh District Police Operations Room at 05-2451500 or the nearest police station to assist with the investigation.
Alwi also expressed his condolences to the families of the two victims and advised the public to respect their privacy, avoid speculation and refrain from sharing unverified information that could affect the investigation.