Villager shocked to find dead body near their home

KEMAMAN - A local villager here was shocked when one of the victims of the Jeram Air Putih water surge tragedy was found about 30 metres from her home

Kampung Dadong local Norhaini Hussin, 48 said she had only followed the tragedy updates on social media, but did not expect the body to be found by her son Shahrul Jefri Mohd Azlan, 21, when he was just casually getting some air around the nearby river.

"I was only aware of the discovery of the seventh body which was Putri Balqis Izzati Abdul Rahman, 18, when I heard a commotion near the house before being informed by my son.

"My son said that he was strolling around the river on his motorcycle after the morning prayer. He said that at first, he saw something similar to a cork floating in the river, but upon closer inspection it was a body.

"So my son was taken aback when he saw a body upside down and stuck in a bunch of bamboos in the water. After that, he immediately called the police and we didn not expect to find the body so near to our house," she told reporters.

In the meantime, Norhaini hopes that the the search for other two victims will be eased and they will be found immediately.

"I hope that the other two (bodies) will be found as soon as possible. Pity their family members," she said.

Earlier, 10 individuals with nine of them were members of a family from Felda Lepar Hilir, Kuantan, Pahang came to have a picnic at Jeram Air Putih, Kampung Air Putih on Saturday before being swept away by the water surge.

The first body Azizah Eiyi, 40, was found at 12.45pm on Sunday about 24 km from the tragedy location while Muhammad Zulqarnain Haikal Karim, 11, was found about 3pm the same day.

On Monday, three victims identified as Putri Aryana Umaira; four, Putri Nurerina Natasya; 10, and their father Karim Abdullah, 39, who were found drowned and their bodies identified by family members.

Prior to that, Muhammad Haziq Ziqree, six, was found floating by the search team at 11.05am.

On Tuesday, two more victims identified as Putri Balqis Izzati Abdul Rahman, 18, and Putri Alleya Maisarah Karim, 16, were found drowned