A Terengganu man feared to have drowned after jumping off a bridge, returned home safely saying he just wanted to cool off during a sunny day. – Picture courtesy of Facebook/ Terengganu Voice
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 – A Terengganu man, feared to have drowned after a witness saw him jumping off a bridge on Wednesday managed to make it home safely as rescuers searched for him.
According to Sinar Harian, the 56-year-old man said he jumped into the Besut river to cool off and refresh himself before heading back to his home in Padang Luas, Jerteh.
The Besut district deputy chief of police, Deputy Superintendent Azrol Anuar Nor said that they were informed by the man’s wife after she saw the Search and Rescue (SAR) operation happening at the Sungai Besut bridge on social media.
Azrol said that the 53-year-old wife had gone to the police station around 9.30am yesterday where she explained that she only knew about the “mishap” after seeing a Facebook post of a man said to have jumped off a bridge wearing the same outfit as her husband that day.
“The man was brought to the Besut Hospital for check-ups after he complained that his body was aching due to his stunt.
“The man claimed that he was feeling hot almost every hour and as he couldn’t bear the heat anymore, he decided to jump off the bridge at noon,” Azrol said.
According to Harian Metro, on Wednesday, a witness who was on her way to a wedding in Jerteh had come across the man clad in a grey shirt and sarong standing at the side of the Sungai Besut bridge.
She decided to call the emergency line after the man disappeared from the side of the bridge, believed to have fallen into the river and drowned.
According to Jerteh district head of Fire and Rescue Department, Muhammad Tarmimi Che Musa, a rescue team along with an officer was dispatched after receiving the distress call around 3.30pm.
The rescue team conducted searches within a 20 metres radius of where the victim was last seen, joined by other agencies such as Police, Fire and Rescue, the Malaysian Civil Defence Force (APM) and the People’s Volunteer Corps (RELA).
The SAR operation which involved 35 people continued until 7pm on Wednesday before it was called off.