CHUKAI: Police today clarified that only four victims of the Jeram Mawar water surge tragedy have been recovered as of this evening, instead of the nine reported earlier.
This was confirmed by Terengganu police chief, Datuk Mazli Mazlan during a press conference at the Air Putih police station operations centre.
Mazli said the confusion occurred following a communication breakdown between the search and rescue (SAR) team, who are operating deep in the jungle.
"To date, we have found six bodies. Four were found today while two were recovered yesterday.
"Prior to this, we were told that seven bodies had been recovered. However, checks later showed that only four were found, with their identities confirmed by the next-of-kin.
"We are facing challenges such as communications as well as the unpredictable weather, which has led to inaccurate information being relayed," he said.
Mazli said 168 people from various agencies such as the police, Fire and Rescue Department, Civil Defence Force, General Operations Force as well as villagers, were participating in the search.
However, he said the SAR mission had to be postponed at 5pm due to poor visibility. The search for the four remaining victims is expected to resume tomorrow at 8am.
The four found today were Muhammad Haziq Ziqree Karim, 6, whose body was discovered at 11.05am.
The other three were Putri Aryana Umaira Karim, 4; Putri Nurerina Natasya Karim, 10; and their father Karim Abdullah, 39.
The bodies of the sisters were found at 12.05pm. Karim's remains, meanwhile, were found at 1.55pm.
Yesterday, the bodies of a woman and her son were found drowned.
The woman, Azizah Eiyi, 40, who is Karim's wife, was discovered at 12.45pm some 24 kilometres from the picnic site.
Her son, Muhammad Zulqarnain Haikal Karim,11, was found at 3pm the same day.