A holiday by a group of Koreans to this city turned into a tragedy when two of them drowned and another in critical condition when swept by current while bathing at Pantai Damai, Santubong, near here Saturday.
Damai Beach is located some 30km from Kuching city - a popular tourist spot in Sarawak.
Kim Sung Hyun, 20, and Jung Yo Han, 24, drowned while trying to save their colleague, a 24-year-old woman who was swept by the current while they were bathing at the beach.
The woman was saved by a Civil Defence Department personnel, identified as Abdul Razak, 45, who was on duty at the watch tower.
She was rushed to the Sarawak General Hospital and reported in stable condition.
The group of Korean tourists, comprising 24 people, arrived here three days ago in a chartered direct flight from Seoul and checked-in into a resort here at about 2pm today.
About an hour later, members of the group were seen bathing at the beach and were said to have ignored warnings by workers at the resort that it was not safe for them to do so as there was a red warning flag there.
A search party found Kim's body at about 3.30pm while that of Jung's about 40 minutes later, not far from where they were reported to be bathing.
Kuching district police chief ACP Mun Kock Keong confirmed the incident.
Two South Korean tourists drowned at a seaside resort in Santubong yesterday while trying to save a woman in their tour group from being
washed out to sea.
The young woman, in her 20s, was saved by a search and rescue team. She was reported to be in critical condition at the Normah Medical Specialist Centre here.
The victims, Kim Sung Hyun, 20, and Jung Yo Han, 24, were among a group of 24 Koreans who had just arrived at the resort.
The tourists were believed to have failed to pay attention to the “red” warning flag and went for a swim around 3pm, according to police and resort staff.
When the young woman, whose name has been withheld by the police, got into difficulties, Kim and Jung rushed to her aid.
However, they got into difficulties themselves due to strong undersea currents.
“They had just checked in around 2pm,”Kuching district police Assistant Commissioner Mun Kok Keong said.
Mun said the red warning flag had been hoisted by the resort, signalling that the sea was rough and dangerous for swimmers.
“They failed to heed the warning flag.” Mun, however, said he had yet to get a clearer picture of what happened.
“We need a translator to take statements from them (the Koreans),” he added.
The search and rescue team, made up of the Civil Defence, Fire and Rescue Department and police personnel from the Santubong station, was deployed immediately after they were alerted.
Kim’s body was recovered at 3.30pm and Jung’s at 4.10pm. The bodies had been sent to the Sarawak Hospital for postmortem.
Mun said police would assist the Koreans in repatriating the bodies of the victims back home.
Abdul Razak Ibrahim, 45, a member of the 911 rescue squad, described the saving of the young woman as miraculous.
“I dived down about 3m at the spot where she was last seen and there she was.
“She was unconscious and must have swallowed a lot of sea water,” Razak said.
The small rescue boat that Razak and his team members used was also constantly battered by waves and the woman had to be brought back to the beach on a surf board.
“I went back to the boat to continue looking for the other two but sea conditions were dangerous.”
The Koreans were believed to have been touring the country for the last three days and were supposed to return home in a direct flight from here to Seoul on budget carrier East-Star Jet today.
