Firemen dissuade woman from jumping off water tank

IPOH - Quick action by firefighters here saved a woman from attempting to jump from a water tank at a public market in Bagan Serai yesterday.

Perak Fire and Rescue Department assistant director (operations division) Sabarodzi Nor Ahmad said the department received a call about the incident at 2.37 pm and firefighters rushed to the scene.

"When we arrived at the scene, we found a woman, believed to be mentally ill, at the top of the water tank, estimated to be six storeys high,” he said in a statement yesterday

He said the operation chief managed to dissuade the woman, aged 39, from jumping.

Sabarodzi said that the operation ended at 4pm.

Meanwhile, Kerian District Police chief Supt Juna Yusoff said police received information about the incident at 2 pm and rushed to the location with Fire Department personnel.

"Preliminary investigations found that the 39-year-old woman was married and had mental health problems.

"The woman lives in Kuala Lumpur and arrived in Bagan Serai on Dec 16 in a public vehicle.

"She claimed that she was hiding at the water tank to avoid being harassed by strangers," he said in a statement last night.

Juna said the woman had lived in Bagan Serai when she was a child as her late father had served as a teacher in the area.

He said the woman had been taken to the Bagan Serai Police Station for further action before being sent to her home in Kuala Lumpur. - BERNAMA