30-Month-Old Girl Drowns During Banana Boat Ride In Port Dickson

Banana boat operators here are still engaging in a dangerous stunt where they “dump” their passengers into the sea at the end of their rides despite the death of a 30-month-old girl from a similar incident on Sunday.

Checks by The Star along popular beach stretches here showed that banana boat operators were still at it despite an order prohibiting them from endangering passengers.

Several holidaymakers here said the banana boat operators had been engaging in such stunts for years.

Tun Hairuddin said government agencies such as the Marine Department and the Port Dickson Municipal Council (MPPD) were responsible in enforcing regulations pertaining to beach watersport activities.

A beach watersport operator’s idea of “fun” led to the death of a 30-month-old girl who was flung into the sea during a “banana boat” ride.

His family, who live in Pasir Panjang near here, came for a picnic at the popular beach here on Sunday afternoon with their three children.

The toddler, Nur Hannan Humairah Mohd Hafrisham, then began pleading with her father to take her on a banana boat ride.

The father, who works at a bank in Kuala Lumpur, finally gave in and took the girl and seven others for the ride.

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“The child pestered her father to take her on the banana boat ride and they joined seven others for the ride at about 6.30pm, while the mother and the two other children stayed on the beach.

"Difahamkan bapa mangsa telah meminta pemandu bot memandu dengan perlahan kerana dia membawa anak kecil tetapi pemandu itu enggan berbuat demikian menyebabkan mangsa terlepas daripada pelukan bapanya.

However, as the banana boat was returning back to the beach, the operator is said to have performed a stunt – purportedly to add some excitement at the end of the ride – which caused all on board to be flung into the sea.

"Mangsa sempat diberi bantuan pernafasan sebelum dikejarkan ke Hospital Port Dickson," katanya di sini semalam.

Frantic holidaymakers helped Mohd Hafrisham carry his daughter to the beach, where the unconscious Nur Hannan was given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

The young victim, who had swallowed a large amount of water, regained consciousness within seconds and was rushed to the Port Dickson Hospital here at about 7pm.

However, doctors there decided to move her to the Tuanku Ja’far Hospital in Seremban when her condition deteriorated at around 11.40pm. She died due to internal injuries just before midnight.

Supt Abd Wahab advised parents against taking their young children out to sea, especially during rough conditions.

Police have, for the time being, classified Nur Hannan’s case as sudden death.