BANTING: A group of workers for a landscaping company, who found themselves trapped in a storm tunnel here during a heavy downpour, risked drowning to save another soul in the same predicament – a cat.
When the Fire and Rescue Department arrived to save the six Indonesian men, they were surprised to find a wet feline among the group.
In the 3.30pm incident at km10 of the South Klang Valley Expressway, the workers were in the midst of cutting grass along the highway when a rainstorm forced them to take shelter in the storm tunnel.
But the water level rose rapidly, and the six soon found themselves trapped and almost fully submerged in water. As they waited the storm out, they noticed a cat which was being swept away by the strong current. Despite the danger, they reached out and grabbed the feline, which clung to one of the men until help arrived.
"We received a call (on the incident) at 3.46pm, and dispatched a team of eight firemen from the Cyberjaya Fire Station to rescue to the victims,” said Selangor Fire and Rescue Department operations centre officer Mohd Hissam Sidik.
"The firemen lowered life jackets to the victims and used rope and a ladder to help the men to safety.
"One of them was holding a cat, which they saved from being swept away during the incident," Hissam said.
The men – and cat – were not injured in the incident, except for being drenched by rainwater, he added.