KUALA SELANGOR: A man who is believed to have attempted to help in rescue efforts after a Royal Malaysian Air Force CN-235 crashed, tragically drowned after getting stuck in a muddy area near the emergency landing site.
Abu Hassan Abdul Latif, 57, was picking shellfish when the plane came down. He had gone on his bicycle to get a closer look at the site when he got into difficulties.
No one had taken notice of Hassan who had gone to the site.
He was discovered struggling in the muddy area by Kuala Selangor Fire and Rescue Department personnel when it was low tide at about 11am, some two hours after the Royal Malaysian Air Force aircraft made an emergency landing at Pantai Asam Jawa here today.
Kuala Selangor OCPD Superintendent Ruslan Abdullah said Hassan was brought to the Tanjung Karang Hospital but died on the way.
However, Ruslan denied that Hassan, who was a local and self-employed, had been involved in the rescue efforts.
“Hassan may have tried to assist but at that point of time, all eight passengers onboard were no longer onboard the aircraft. He had no role in the operation. He could have been coincidentally there to look for ‘siput’ or something else.
“Firemen who were monitoring the situation saw him struggling in the mud. They helped to pull him to dry land.
“It is regretful if he really wanted to help but was found dead instead,” said Ruslan in a statement.
Meanwhile, Hassan’s sister, Jamaliah Abdul Latif, said it never crossed her mind that her bachelor brother would die in such a way.
Jamaliah said she was shocked to receive news on the telephone informing her of her brother’s death. The family, she said, was asked to identify his body at the hospital.
“It had been a routine for Hassan to go out to the shore to look for shellfish. He would sell them to earn a living and support himself as he was still unmarried and lived alone. He was a kind person and always lent a helping hand to those who needed it,” said the teary Jamaliah when met at the scene.