KUANTAN - A teenage boy died after being buried by earth believed to have occurred while panning for gold at Pos Pantos, Kuala Lipis yesterday.
Lipis district police chief, Superintendent Azli Mohd Noor, said investigations found that the victim, Budiman Johan, 18, along with four other friends, had gone to an oil palm plantation in Pos Pantos to pan for gold in the area at 3 am.
"During the panning, the victim was digging soil by hand, and the soil from the spot where the victim was digging reportedly caved in on him, causing him to be buried.
"His friends dug him out from the earthslip and brought him back home," he said in a statement today.
Azli said a medical examination by the medical officer at Sungai Koyan Health Clinic, Lipis, found that the victim had died and was taken to Lipis Hospital for a post-mortem.
The cause of death was due to asphyxia caused by earth collapse, he said. - BERNAMA