PENAMPANG: A woman who was attempting to send food to stranded victims became the first victim of the Sabah floods when she was swept away by the swift flow of water.
Monica Ting Siew Kwong, 37, was found drowned several hours later some 500m from where she was last seen.
Ting and her 39-year-old husband, Hii Ding Wei, had sent food to those trapped in Donggongon by floodwaters and were on their way back home about 1.40am when tragedy struck.
They were near the Sigah roundabout of the Jalan Penampang Bypass, in an inundated area, when Ting was swept away by floodwaters.
Hii tried to grab hold of her hand, but the swiftness of the water flow pulled them apart.
District police chief Superintendent Sammy Newton, when met at the location, said the victim's body was found caught in a tree near some house in Kampung Hungab, about 8am.
Her body was found by search and rescue personnel from the Civil Defence Force who had begun their operation immediately after a report on the incident was received at 1.45am.
The SAR team had found her shoes not far away and this had then led them to the discovery of Ting's body.
Sammy said Ting's body was sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu for post-mortem examination.