PAKAN: A fishing trip with friends yesterday (May 21) turned tragic after a 37-year-old man drowned when attempting to dive into the river to retrieve a stuck fishing net in Ulu Pedanum.
The incident happened near Rh Mawan, Lubok Sagau.
Welly Tedung was fishing with three of his friends when he realised that one of their fishing nets was stuck at the bottom of the river.
He dived in to retrieve the stuck net and managed to surface after two dives.
However, on the third dive, he did not resurface and was feared to have drowned. His family and villagers nearby were quickly informed of the incident.
A spokesman for the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) said firemen from Bintangor station were despatched to the scene, about 44km away, after they received a distress call around 1.20 pm.
On arrival, the team initiated the search and rescue (SAR) operation and conducted a search to locate the victim.
At around 4.15 pm, Welly was found by the rescuers about five metres from his last known location.
His body was later handed over to the police to be transported to the hospital.
