Three men fall into the sea in separate Penang incidents within 24 hours
Authorities from multiple agencies are now racing against time to trace the victims, with none confirmed safe so far.
GEORGE TOWN - Penang witnessed a troubling 24-hour period with three separate cases of men falling into the sea, sparking extensive search and rescue (SAR) operations across Butterworth and the Penang Bridge.
Authorities from multiple agencies are now racing against time to trace the victims, with none confirmed safe so far.
Penang Fire and Rescue Department Operations Division Assistant Director John Sagun Francis said the first incident was detected at 1.41pm on Monday at Tambatan W3 Dermaga Dalam, Butterworth.
A Yamaha LC V8 motorcycle and a mobile phone were found abandoned at the scene.
“The police informed us that a man was believed to have fallen into the sea. The victim has been identified and is 46 years old, but his status has yet to be confirmed,” he said.
Search efforts have been divided into four sectors involving the Marine Police, Maritime Malaysia, Malaysian Civil Defence Force (APM) and the Port Fire Department.
The second incident occurred later the same day at 8.22pm at KM 4.0 of the Penang Bridge, heading towards Perai.
The fire department received information about a man armed with a sharp weapon behaving suspiciously before he was believed to have fallen into the water.
“When firemen arrived at the location, the victim could no longer be found and no identification documents were discovered,” Francis said.
The operation is now being coordinated by Maritime Malaysia with assistance from a fire department boat, APM and the Volunteer Fire Brigade.
The third case emerged early Tuesday morning when Plus informed firefighters that CCTV recordings showed another man falling from the same stretch of the bridge.
A Perai fire team arrived at 11.17am and recovered his personal belongings.
“The 31-year-old man has yet to be identified. The SAR operation is also being continued by teams from BBP Perai, Butterworth and Bagan Jermal with the cooperation of various security agencies,” he said.
Authorities are calling on members of the public with any information to come forward to help the ongoing investigation.
Download Sinar Daily application.Click Here!
