BALING: The bodies of a pregnant woman and her mother-in-law who were washed away by floods in Kampung Iboi here yesterday, were found hugging each other, about 100 metres from the site of their flattened house.
The remains of Nurul Anis Abu Hassan, 28, who was four months pregnant, was found under a pile of tree trunks about 9.30am, along with the body of her mother-in-law, Salmah Mat Akib, 53.
State Fire and Rescue Department director, Sayani Saidon said the bodies were found intact, in a hugging position and there were no signs of injury.
Sayani said based on initial investigations, it was believed that the victim's house was destroyed after being struck by large tree branches and swept away by strong currents.
"We believe the victims were swept away alongside the tree branches and rocks before they got stuck under a pile of wood debris," she said when met at the scene today.
Sayani said their next focus was to locate Salmah's 14-year-old son, Khairul Ikhwan Nor Azman, who was also swept away in the incident.
She added that the search area would be extended if they failed to locate the victim in the current spot.
"We have also engaged tracker dogs to assist with the search operations today," she said.
In the 5.30pm incident yesterday, at least nine houses in Kampung Iboi were swept away by strong currents triggered by a water-column phenomenon following three hours of unusual heavy rainfall.
A search and rescue mission was mounted after the three victims went missing in the incident.