Our investigation revealed that the victim had been fishing at the riverbank around 5.30pm on Sunday. His five-year-old son was sitting in his Perodua Myvi when the car suddenly moved and fell into the river.

The body of a man who drowned in a river while rescuing his five-yearold son in Kampung Imbahan, Putatan was found by a police drone yesterday after a nearly 16-hour search.

The body of Lasibi Lawahidu, 40, was spotted by the police Air Wing Unit (PGU) drone around 300 metres from where he was last seen.

Penampang police chief DSP Mohd Haris Ibrahim said the body was found floating in the river at around 9.15am and sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for post-mortem.

He said the case has been classified as sudden death but the investigation is continuing.

“Our investigation revealed that the victim had been fishing at the riverbank around 5.30pm on Sunday. His five-year-old son was sitting in his Perodua Myvi

DSP Mohd Haris Ibrahim

when the car suddenly moved and fell into the river.

“The victim jumped into the river and managed to save his son with help from members of the public, but he was nowhere to be found after the rescue,” he told reporters when met at the scene.

Mohd Haris said a search and rescue (SAR) team was then mobilised comprising nearly 70 personnel from agencies such as the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba), Civil Defence Force, People’s Volunteer Corps and Marine Police.

He said they conducted three searches during the operation, and attributed the collaboration of agencies to the success in locating the victim faster than anticipated.

Separately, he reminded the public living around Putatan not to carry out recreational activities at the river.

“Two years ago, there was a similar incident involving a child who drowned in the same area. We fear that there may be another similar incident in the future.

“Residents around Putatan are advised not to do recreational activities such as fishing in the area to avoid similar incidents from happening again,” he said.