GEORGE TOWN, Oct 11 — A family of four came to Malaysia full of joy to celebrate the daughter’s graduation but only three will return home in tears after she was killed in a parasailing mishap here on Wednesday.
The victim’s brother, Abdullah Mohamed, 30, said they were still in a state of shock and disbelief that they are going back to Saudi Arabia with his sister, Aldakhilallah Eman Mohamed’s body and to prepare for her burial.
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“It was supposed to be a family vacation as we celebrate her completing her doctorate in civil engineering but it had turned into a nightmare,” he said when met at the Penang Hospital mortuary, explaining that the family had arrived in Malaysia earlier in the month.
“I can’t believe that she’s gone, and she was looking forward to her graduation in January next year,” he added.
On Wednesday, at about 5.30pm, 35-year-old Aldakhilallah had slipped off the safety harness while parasailing and plunged about 30 feet to the sea.
She was pulled out of the waters almost immediately but attempts to resuscitate her failed and she was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital later.
The tragedy has left a bad impression of Penang and Malaysia on the family, with Abdullah saying he will warn his friends and relatives not to visit the country or Penang.
“Even if they want to visit Penang, I will warn them against these water sports operators who are very insistent when they were pushing their services on us,” the customs officer said through an interpreter.
He recalled how the operators had been very persuasive and insistent in promoting their water sports activities to him and his family when they were strolling along the beach front at Batu Ferringhi near the resort they were staying.
“My sister relented to one of them by agreeing to try the parasailing and I felt uneasy about it,” he said, adding that his father had paid RM200 for what was supposed to be a fun activity.
He also pointed out that there were no warning signs in various languages along the beach front to caution tourists of the dangers and risks of these water sports activities.
“All the signages are in English but not everyone can read English so they should have warnings in several other languages so that all of us can understand,” he said.
Abdullah could not speak, read or write in English and was communicating through an interpreter from the Saudi Arabian Embassy throughout the brief interview outside the mortuary.
The family had arrived in Penang after spending four days in Langkawi and three days in Kuala Lumpur. They were due to fly back to Saudi Arabia via Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.
The family refused to have a post-mortem conducted on Aldakhilallah, citing religious reasons, and a private jet was flown in from Saudi Arabia to bring her remains back to its capital Riyadh where she will be buried.
They had planned for her body to be flown from the Penang International Airport in a cargo plane to Kuala Lumpur before placing her body on the jet at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and sending her home to Saudi Arabia last night.
However, the police did not release her body and had advised the family to allow for a post-mortem to be conducted.
State Criminal Investigations Department chief Asst Comm Nasir Salleh spoke to the family yesterday and explained that due to the nature of her death, a post-mortem had to be conducted.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar also informed the Saudi Arabia Embassy that Aldakhilallah’s body will only be released after a post-mortem was conducted.
The post-mortem is expected to be conducted today.
Following the incident, the Penang Island Municipal Council ordered all water sports activities to be suspended until further notice.
The police also questioned the boat operator involved and seized the boat, parachute and the parasailing equipment in the incident for further investigations.
A special committee, in charge of investigating jet ski accidents, will also be investigating this case to find out the cause of the accident.
