ALOR STAR: Police are investigating possible negligence in the drowning of a two-year-old toddler, whose body was found floating in a drain on Jalan Langgar yesterday.
Kedah police chief, Datuk Fisol Salleh, said the girl's death has not been classified as a flood casualty, even though the area where the victim's family lives was affected by flash floods.
"We sympathise with the family for their loss, but we do not want to speculate," he said. "However, please do not categorise this as a flood-related death. We are investigating possible negligence."
Fisol added that a post-mortem at Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital confirmed the girl, the youngest of two children, died from drowning.
It was reported that the toddler, Nur Aisha Misya Afifah Abdul Fattah, 2, drowned in a drain about 30 metres from her home in Lorong Seri, Jalan Langgar, last night.
Her body was found floating in the drain at around 8pm yesterday, about four hours after her 18-year-old mother realised she was missing. Villagers had frantically searched for the toddler during the flash floods but were unable to find her until her body surfaced.
Villagers had frantically searched for the toddler during the flash floods but failed to locate the victim, until her body surfaced on the drain at about 8pm.
Meanwhile, Fisol reminded the public against taking risks visiting floods ravaged earlier for the sake of social media content.
"If they are sharing content to alert or to assist the authorities in their duties, that is fine.
"However, don't take advantage of other people's suffering to create social media content just for the sake of attracting viewers and generating income. That is not wise," he said.
In a related development, Fisol said he was satisfied with the cooperation amongst government departments and agencies in managing the floods relief efforts in the state.
He added that over 200 policemen and officers, mostly in Kota Setar and Pokok Sena districts, were affected by the floods.