KOTA KINABALU: Three children drowned while swimming in a pond at a construction site in Kampung Perpaduan Ria 1, Kudat today.
Kudat Fire and Rescue Department chief Ishak Jabas said that based on preliminary information, the three victims were two boys named Wan Hermi, 11, and Mohd Syahwan, 7, and an 11-year-old girl, Nurul Isah.
"The children were believed to have been playing in the pond which was dug for construction purposes. We received a distress call at 5.36 pm.
"By the time the team arrived, all the victims had been carried out of the pond by members of the public," he said when contacted.
The unconscious children were given CPR by the medical officer and Emergency Medical Rescue Services before being sent to the Kudat Hospital, he said, adding that the hospital later confirmed that all the children had died. -- Bernama