BALIK PULAU: Marketing personnel Muhammad Nazirul Waziri thought he would drown when his struggling colleagues pushed his head into the water to stay afloat.
But his life-saving ability and experience as a member of the Civil Defence Department taught him to be alert and stay calm during the critical moment.
Muhammad Nazirul, 22, said he managed to pull three of his colleagues to safety and the body of P. Yogambigai, 24, to the shore.
He said he immediately sprang into action upon learning that six of his colleagues were facing difficulties while swimming off the Pantai Kerachut coast in Teluk Bahang on Saturday.
B. Gopinathan, 22, was actually the first to jump into the water to help but he got into difficulties himself.
Muhammad Nazirul added that he then swam towards Gopinathan and Norhayati Nasrul as they were nearest to shore, and tried to help them while a third colleague Nurain Nabilah Mokhtar was a distance away.
“I tried to hold my breath and kept telling Gopinathan and Norhayati to stay calm. I told them that they were safe but they still struggled, and pushed my head under the water to stay afloat.
“Luckily, they managed to regain their composure and I managed to pull them ashore. I then went back to save Nurain and on my way to shore, I saw Yogambigai with her face down in the water and I knew something bad had happened,” he said when met at the site yesterday.
He added that he went back in again to retrieve Yogambigai’s body.
It was earlier reported that a team-building event organised by Prai-based Oriental Advertising turned tragic when five of the participants were swept away by strong waves.
The body of 23-year-old Ashwan-paljit Singh Charnjit Singh was found on Sunday several metres away from where he was swept away, some 24 hours after he went missing.
The site of the tragedy in Pantai Kerachut was a restricted zone to swimmers due to strong winds and unpredictable waves.
Muhammad Nazirul, who suffered cuts on the sole, was part of the search and rescue operation team looking for Ku Muhammad Ilyas Ku Abdul Halim, 19, who was feared drowned after going for a swim with four others.
Norhayati, 22, was discharged on Sunday night from the Penang Hospital while Nurain, 21, was still hospitalised in the intensive care unit.
Nurain’s mother, who declined to be named, said her daughter’s condition had improved since Saturday.
“Please pray for my daughter. The doctor had reduced the amount of sedative and she opened her eyes briefly when the doctor checked on her this morning. Her condition is stabilising but she is still drowsy and feverish,” she said at the hospital yesterday.
But his life-saving ability and experience as a member of the Civil Defence Department taught him to be alert and stay calm during the critical moment.
Muhammad Nazirul, 22, said he managed to pull three of his colleagues to safety and the body of P. Yogambigai, 24, to the shore.
He said he immediately sprang into action upon learning that six of his colleagues were facing difficulties while swimming off the Pantai Kerachut coast in Teluk Bahang on Saturday.
B. Gopinathan, 22, was actually the first to jump into the water to help but he got into difficulties himself.
Muhammad Nazirul added that he then swam towards Gopinathan and Norhayati Nasrul as they were nearest to shore, and tried to help them while a third colleague Nurain Nabilah Mokhtar was a distance away.
“I tried to hold my breath and kept telling Gopinathan and Norhayati to stay calm. I told them that they were safe but they still struggled, and pushed my head under the water to stay afloat.
“Luckily, they managed to regain their composure and I managed to pull them ashore. I then went back to save Nurain and on my way to shore, I saw Yogambigai with her face down in the water and I knew something bad had happened,” he said when met at the site yesterday.
He added that he went back in again to retrieve Yogambigai’s body.
It was earlier reported that a team-building event organised by Prai-based Oriental Advertising turned tragic when five of the participants were swept away by strong waves.
The body of 23-year-old Ashwan-paljit Singh Charnjit Singh was found on Sunday several metres away from where he was swept away, some 24 hours after he went missing.
The site of the tragedy in Pantai Kerachut was a restricted zone to swimmers due to strong winds and unpredictable waves.
Muhammad Nazirul, who suffered cuts on the sole, was part of the search and rescue operation team looking for Ku Muhammad Ilyas Ku Abdul Halim, 19, who was feared drowned after going for a swim with four others.
Norhayati, 22, was discharged on Sunday night from the Penang Hospital while Nurain, 21, was still hospitalised in the intensive care unit.
Nurain’s mother, who declined to be named, said her daughter’s condition had improved since Saturday.
“Please pray for my daughter. The doctor had reduced the amount of sedative and she opened her eyes briefly when the doctor checked on her this morning. Her condition is stabilising but she is still drowsy and feverish,” she said at the hospital yesterday.
