Kids under 14 make up more than a third of Kelantan’s drowning deaths since 2023
KOTA BHARU, Sept 27 — Children under 14 accounted for about 36 per cent of the 96 drowning deaths recorded in Kela...
In the past three years, children under the age of 14 have constituted over a third of the 96 drowning fatalities recorded in Kelantan, signaling the pressing need to bolster preventive measures and water safety awareness specifically for this demographic. Director of Kelantan Fire and Rescue Department, Farhan Sufyan Borhan, revealed that out of the total deaths, 35 victims were children, with the majority of these fatalities occurring in 2024.
He noted that the department's statistics indicated 28 drowning deaths in 2023, increasing to 31 in 2024, followed by 27 in 2025, and currently, 10 deaths this year. Specifically, for victims under the age of 14, there were seven deaths in 2023, escalating to 14 cases in 2024, 11 cases in 2025, and three cases thus far in the current year.
As a result, Farhan Sufyan emphasized that Kelantan JBPM is intensifying preventive efforts through water safety education and awareness initiatives, such as the free Program Jom Renang (Let’s Swim Programme) held in five series involving 300 children under 12 across various locations in the state. This program aims to equip young participants with essential swimming skills, water safety knowledge, and self-rescue techniques as proactive steps to mitigate the risk of drowning incidents.
Additionally, Farhan Sufyan urged parents to maintain constant vigilance over their children near rivers, ponds, lakes, and other bodies of water, stressing that collaboration from schools, communities, and the public is crucial in ingraining water safety practices to prevent drowning tragedies.
Written by urgent.news from Malay Mail's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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