Nor Baizura Excited To Go On Picnic With Family - Drowning Victim's Sister

DUNGUN, Jan 1 (Bernama) -- Nor Baizura Shafie, who drowned on an beach outing at Pantai Sura Tengah near here today, would ask her family to go on a picnic there every time she returned home on holiday.

Her sister, Nur Mashitah, said that her sister, 39, who was staying in Kampung Melayu Majidee, Johor Bahru had returned home to Kampung Balai Besar here on Dec 26 and was excited when they headed to the beach at 7.30 am today.

She also related that about 15 family members, including her three nieces, aged seven to 10, had waded in the sea by the beach after they found that the waves were calm.

"I only realised my sister was drowning when I saw her hands waving as she was being swept away by the waves.

"I screamed asking my brother Mohd Fazir to help and he immediately swam out to help my sister. He managed to grab her hand, but they were separated by the waves and both of them went under before being carried away by the currents,” she told reporters at the Dungun Hospital’s forensics unit here today, adding that a family member contacted the police for help.

Nur Mashitah revealed that rescuers found her sister’s body about 200 metres from where she had first encountered difficulty, but her brother, Mohd Fazir, 37, had yet to be found as of late evening.

Nor Baizura’s funeral is scheduled to take place after the autopsy at Dungun Hospital is completed, she added.

-- BERNAMA