A nine-year-old primary school pupil died yesterday morning after falling into a 1.8-metre-deep sewage drain at his school during its annual sports day.
The boy, who was the son of the school’s Parent-Teacher Association (PIBG) chairman, reportedly fell when stepping on a fibre-type manhole cover in the school compound around 9am.
Lenggeng assemblyman Datuk Mohd Asna Amin, who was at the event to officiate the sports meet, said he rushed to the scene immediately after being told about the incident.
“At the time, many pupils were gathered at the back of the school because of the sports activities,” he said. “A girl came and told us a boy had fallen into a hole. When we first looked, we couldn’t see anything. Only after going down did we spot a school cap and shoes floating.”
According to Mohd Asna, a local resident then dived into the drain to retrieve the boy. “The victim had been in the drain for about 10 minutes before he was brought up,” he said.
Rescuers continued efforts for nearly 30 minutes, including performing CPR while waiting for the ambulance, but hospital staff later confirmed the child had died.
The Negeri Sembilan Education Department has been instructed to launch an immediate investigation into the tragedy.
