4 children in M’sia drown after falling into drain while trying to retrieve football

Four boys drown in Kedah while trying to retrieve football after rain

Four children drowned after falling into a deep monsoon drain while trying to retrieve a football in Kedah, Malaysia, on Monday (14 Sept) evening.

Two die at the scene

According to Kulim District Police Chief Superintendent Syamsul Sinring, police received a distress call at around 7.45pm.

Four boys, aged between 8 and 12, had drowned in a retention pond at Taman Desa Kayangan in Tambun, Sungai Karangan.

Upon arriving, responders managed to pull all four children out of the water.

Two of the children were pronounced dead at the scene. The other two died while being taken to Kulim Hospital.

Victims were playing football nearby

The victims were identified as 12-year-old Muhammad Zafril Arsyad Muhamad Azrin, 10-year-old Muhammad Iman Nuruddin Khairol Anuar, 12-year-old Muhamad Aeril Aziz Muhamad Zafis, and 8-year-old Muhammad Arif Naufan Abdullah.

Muhamad Aeril Aziz and Muhammad Arif were stepbrothers.

The victims’ mothers revealed that all four children lived nearby and had gone out to play football earlier that evening.

Fell into drain while attempting to retrieve ball

According to one of the mothers, the children were believed to have fallen into the drain while trying to retrieve a football that had entered the water.

The drain was estimated to be about 3.048m deep and 1.8m wide.

No witnesses were present at the site.

The bodies were conveyed to Alor Setar’s Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital for autopsies.

According to The Star, the four friends were buried together in the same grave on 15 Sept.

Their funeral, which was held at the Masjid Jamek Nurul Ehsan Muslim Cemetery, saw more than 500 people in attendance.

Also read: College student in Thailand dies after drowning while playing hide-and-seek in river

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Featured image adapted from Guang Ming Daily.