UPDATED 12.12PM One pupil drowned and two others are feared missing after a newly-built suspension bridge collapsed into the Kampar River last night.
@ Sun2Surf
1 pupil dead, 2 missing in Kampar bridge tragedy
KAMPAR (Oct 27, 2009): A pupil drowned and two others are missing after a newly built suspension bridge collapsed into the Kampar River as pupils participating in a 1Malaysia camp were walking across at Sekolah Kebangsaan Kuala Dipang near here last night.
Nineteen other pupils feared missing at first had been accounted for and were safe, police said.
The accident happened after 298 pupils from 60 primary schools in Kampar, Tronoh and Batu Gajah had arrived to participate in a 1Malaysia camp organised by the Kinta Selatan District Education Department.
Perak Deputy Chief Police Officer Datuk Zakaria Yusof said the body of the drowned pupil, identified as Dina Deve Nathan, was recovered at 8.30am and had been sent to the Kampar Hospital.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Education Minister, arrived at the scene of the accident at 10.55am.
Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir visited the scene last night and ordered an immediate investigation into the cause of the accident.
"The suspension bridge was newly built. We want to know if it was built to specifications as it collapsed after a metal pillar got ripped off the ground," he said.
A metal pillar and its concrete block foundation got ripped off the ground in the incident and part of the bridge walkway was afloat on the river.
The Kampar River is known for extreme water sports. The part of the river where the bridge collapsed is about 30 metres wide and 1.5 metres deep.
Villagers have joined in the search and rescue operation mounted by 222 personnel from the police, Royal Malaysian Navy, Fire & Rescue Department, People's Volunteer Corps (Rela), Civil Defence Department and other agencies.
Zakaria said the police had asked the Education Department to furnish a list of names of the participants of the camp.
Parents of the pupils rushed to the school last night upon hearing news of the accident, and several of them became angry when they could not confirm the safety of their children even as late as 3am.
The bridge collapsed when groups of pupils were walking to and from the campsite to the school for dinner.
According to reports, most of the pupils managed to hold on to the ropes of the collapsed bridge and save themselves while several others were pulled out of the swift-flowing river by a teacher and a guard of the school in the incident at about 10.30pm.
A pupil, K. Mathivanan, 12, said the bridge collapsed all of a sudden when about 30 to 50 pupils were on it, some walking to the school and others returning to the campsite.
He said the bridge had swayed a lot before it collapsed as several of the pupils were jumping about and playing with one another.
"All of a sudden, we found ourselves thrown into the river. I managed to hold on to a rope. The current was swift but I managed to drag myself out of the water," he said.
The bridge, about 50 metres long, was built about two weeks ago to replace an old one which had collapsed, said a member of the school's Parent-Teacher Association.
A teacher, Mohd Safri Abdul Rafar, said he was not far from the bridge when it collapsed and quickly jumped over a fence and dived into the river in the attempt to rescue the pupils.
"I managed to pull out three or four pupils. The current was swift and I almost got dragged away," he said. Safri said he went into the river again and pulled out five more pupils.
A guard of the school, who identified himself as Idris, said he pulled out six pupils from the river.
Safri said he was sad that he could not rescue a pupil who had held onto a metal cable before being dragged away by the current.
Twenty-three teachers were involved in the camp, the second to be organised by the Kinta Selatan district education department after the first one held at the Sekolah Kebangsaan Pos Raya last week.
Similar camps were to be held simultaneously today in the Larut, Matang and Selama as well as Manjung district, said Safri, adding that the pupils were from all races and the aim of the camp was to foster unity and interaction through activities such as traditional cooking, cultural training and games. -- Bernama
@ Sun2Surf
1 pupil dead, 2 missing in Kampar bridge tragedy
KAMPAR (Oct 27, 2009): A pupil drowned and two others are missing after a newly built suspension bridge collapsed into the Kampar River as pupils participating in a 1Malaysia camp were walking across at Sekolah Kebangsaan Kuala Dipang near here last night.
Nineteen other pupils feared missing at first had been accounted for and were safe, police said.
The accident happened after 298 pupils from 60 primary schools in Kampar, Tronoh and Batu Gajah had arrived to participate in a 1Malaysia camp organised by the Kinta Selatan District Education Department.
Perak Deputy Chief Police Officer Datuk Zakaria Yusof said the body of the drowned pupil, identified as Dina Deve Nathan, was recovered at 8.30am and had been sent to the Kampar Hospital.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Education Minister, arrived at the scene of the accident at 10.55am.
Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir visited the scene last night and ordered an immediate investigation into the cause of the accident.
"The suspension bridge was newly built. We want to know if it was built to specifications as it collapsed after a metal pillar got ripped off the ground," he said.
A metal pillar and its concrete block foundation got ripped off the ground in the incident and part of the bridge walkway was afloat on the river.
The Kampar River is known for extreme water sports. The part of the river where the bridge collapsed is about 30 metres wide and 1.5 metres deep.
Villagers have joined in the search and rescue operation mounted by 222 personnel from the police, Royal Malaysian Navy, Fire & Rescue Department, People's Volunteer Corps (Rela), Civil Defence Department and other agencies.
Zakaria said the police had asked the Education Department to furnish a list of names of the participants of the camp.
Parents of the pupils rushed to the school last night upon hearing news of the accident, and several of them became angry when they could not confirm the safety of their children even as late as 3am.
The bridge collapsed when groups of pupils were walking to and from the campsite to the school for dinner.
According to reports, most of the pupils managed to hold on to the ropes of the collapsed bridge and save themselves while several others were pulled out of the swift-flowing river by a teacher and a guard of the school in the incident at about 10.30pm.
A pupil, K. Mathivanan, 12, said the bridge collapsed all of a sudden when about 30 to 50 pupils were on it, some walking to the school and others returning to the campsite.
He said the bridge had swayed a lot before it collapsed as several of the pupils were jumping about and playing with one another.
"All of a sudden, we found ourselves thrown into the river. I managed to hold on to a rope. The current was swift but I managed to drag myself out of the water," he said.
The bridge, about 50 metres long, was built about two weeks ago to replace an old one which had collapsed, said a member of the school's Parent-Teacher Association.
A teacher, Mohd Safri Abdul Rafar, said he was not far from the bridge when it collapsed and quickly jumped over a fence and dived into the river in the attempt to rescue the pupils.
"I managed to pull out three or four pupils. The current was swift and I almost got dragged away," he said. Safri said he went into the river again and pulled out five more pupils.
A guard of the school, who identified himself as Idris, said he pulled out six pupils from the river.
Safri said he was sad that he could not rescue a pupil who had held onto a metal cable before being dragged away by the current.
Twenty-three teachers were involved in the camp, the second to be organised by the Kinta Selatan district education department after the first one held at the Sekolah Kebangsaan Pos Raya last week.
Similar camps were to be held simultaneously today in the Larut, Matang and Selama as well as Manjung district, said Safri, adding that the pupils were from all races and the aim of the camp was to foster unity and interaction through activities such as traditional cooking, cultural training and games. -- Bernama
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