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- Published on Wednesday, 13 January 2016 15:29
KUCHING: Members of the public have been advised to reduce activities on the beach particularly in Santubong, following a second suspected crocodile attack in shallow waters off the coast within 30 days.
Pantai Damai state assemblyman Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi said the public should take appropriate precautions as Santubong and Salak folk have reported an increase in the number of crocodile sightings in the shallow waters of the sea near their villages.
He added that the reptiles occasionally strayed into the drains of the villages.
“I advise the community in general, and youngsters in particular, to reduce activities at the river mouth or sea. If possible, stay away completely from these areas for the time being until we can find out the exact circumstances behind the latest incident,” he told reporters yesterday after visiting the search and rescue operation for 16-year-old Raziman Razali, who disappeared on Monday while in the waters along the beach at Kampung Santubong.
His body was later found in the sea by searchers around 5.45pm yesterday, roughly 5km from where he was last seen.
Raziman was the second to go missing in the area in the space of 30 days after a female nurse, who has yet to be found, went missing early last month.
Dr Abdul Rahman also called on the Forest Department and Sarawak Forestry Corporation to look into the growing number of crocodiles in the state.
He explained that since killing or capturing the reptiles is against the law, a discussion needs to be held to come up with a solution to address the danger facing the local population and other beach-goers.
Raziman was last seen by his friends around 6pm on Monday shortly after they had gone for a swim at the beach near their homes.
One friend, 16-year-old Fairul Ikman, said Raziman appeared to be calling out to them for help while he was swimming, but was thought by the others to be joking.
He said it was only when they saw his arms flailing wildly did they realise something was amiss, adding that the victim vanished moments later.
“We initially thought he was fooling around because he knew how to swim. It was when he was ‘pulled’ by something deeper into the water and then disappearing that we realised something terrible had happened,” said Fairul, adding that the water was moderately calm during the time of the incident.
Though it was initially unclear what had happened to the victim, the condition of the body indicated that it was highly likely Raziman had fallen victim to a crocodile attack.
His body was subsequently handed over to the police and brought to the Sarawak General Hospital for a postmortem.
- The Borneo Post
