TUMPAT: A couple were shocked to see the floodwaters around their home in Telaga Bata here turn red on Sunday.
Civil servant Mohd Azam Jusoh, 35, told Sinar Harian that the incident was first noticed by his wife, Hashah Ismail, 36, at noon.
"I was shocked when my wife showed me a video she took of the floodwater, which was red.
"The entry path and the surrounding area of our house had been flooded since Thursday due to heavy rain, but the water was clear from the Golok River before it suddenly turned red," he said.
Mohd Azam explained that their house was situated on higher ground and had not been affected by the flooding, but the surrounding yard area served as a drainage path, which caused the water to turn red briefly.
"At first, I was shocked because I didn't know where the red colour came from.
"Later that afternoon, we found out that it was dye from a chilli sauce factory located 300 meters from our house, although the factory has been inactive for the past six years," he said.
He suspected that the dye from the sauce factory had spilled into the floodwaters, causing it to turn red.
Mohd Azam also shared the incident on TikTok, where it went viral with 8,707 likes and 2,438 shares.
A similar incident had occurred in Johor Baru three years ago, but instead of dye from chilli sauce, the floodwaters were stained red from the spill of old dye waste from a textile factory in Kampung Sri Serdang Baru, Tampoi.
Department of Environment director-general Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar in a statement had said that the spill was believed to be due to heavy rains which had uncovered factory structures and decomposed storage bags.
He said further investigations by the department found spills from old dye waste containers which were left in the factory which had ceased operations in 2000.