Teen drowns while swimming in Ranau river

KOTA KINABALU: A teenager drowned while swimming in a river along the Ranau-Sandakan road, on Monday (Aug 19) evening.

The 13-year-old identified as Nerlyne Christine Januai was reported to be having an outing with some relatives and friends when the incident occurred around 4pm.

According to the Sabah Fire and Rescue operations room, the victim was last seen struggling before disappearing underwater.

“Villagers in the area tried searching for the victim and her body was discovered about 500m from where she was last seen,” said Ranau fire station chief Ridwan Mohd Taib.

He said firemen received a distress call at 4.37pm and arrived at the scene at Kg Sungangon around 5.20pm.

Her body was retrieved from the river and handed over to medical officials at the scene, where she was pronounced dead.

The body was later handed over to the cops for further action.

Operations on site ended at 7.35pm.