Orang Asli father loses all five children after sons drown in river

New Straits Times

06-05-2025

MACHANG: Two Orang Asli brothers who drowned while fishing in Sungai Gilat were the last surviving children of their parents, who have now lost all five of their children.
Their father, Rantau Atan, 45, said his sons—18-year-old Irruwan and 16-year-old Rahidi—had worked alongside him in oil palm estates and recently on a watermelon plantation in Kuala Krai.
"They were good boys. Always willing to help since young. They supported us in any way they could," he said at the Machang Hospital Forensic Medicine Unit.
The siblings were swept away by strong currents and a whirlpool yesterday while fishing with relatives. Their bodies were recovered this morning at separate locations along the river.
Rantau, who identified his sons' bodies today, said he was shocked by their deaths as both were good swimmers.
But the grief was compounded by the fact that they were his only surviving children.
"Before this, we lost three daughters—one in a road accident, two to illness. Now, it's just me and my wife," he said.
The boys' remains will be taken back to Kampung Deraman in Rompin, Pahang, for burial. The family had been in Kuala Krai for a week-long job tending to watermelons, along with over 30 other Orang Asli workers from their village. — BERNAMA