Two drown collecting cockles near Borneo resort farm

KUNAK: A man and a woman died while five others with them survived while collecting cockles in the mangroves near Borneo Resort Farm near here yesterday evening.
The two dead were identified as Haslinda Abidin and Rolly Enning, both 25 years old.
Kunak District Police Chief, Supt Mohd Nasaruddin M Nasir said the seven foreign palm oil factory workers, comprising six men and a woman, aged between 22 and 37 years, had gone to the mangroves at about 5.30pm to look for cockles before the sudden tide.
"All of them were not aware of the tide rising quickly up to the waist and when they tried to save themselves, the strong current swept two of them away," he said in a statement here today.
Nasaruddin said, members of the General Operations Force (GOF), who were on patrol heard the victims screaming for help before rushing to rescue them.
"The GOF managed to rescue five men, while the woman had died of drowning and another man was missing," he said.
Those who were saved were identified as Asdar Dahari, 22, Amran Haddise, 37, Rudy Hartono Bade, 25, Haryadi Amir, 36, and Frende Martin, 27.
According to Nasaruddin, the missing man was found drowned at about 10.20pm last night by a family member who was involved in the search and taken to hospital," he said. — Bernama