One Pupil Drowns, 21 Missing After Suspension Bridge Collapses Into Kampar River

KAMPAR (Bernama) -- One pupil drowned and 21 others are feared missing after a newly built suspension bridge collapsed into the Kampar River as pupils participating in a 1Malaysia camp were walking across at Sekolah Kebangsaan Kuala Dipang near here Monday night.

About 20 other pupils managed to hold on to the ropes of the collapsed bridge and saved themselves while several others were pulled out of the swift-flowing river by a teacher and a guard of the school in the incident at about 10.30pm.

Perak Deputy Chief Police Officer Datuk Zakaria Yusof said on Tuesday the body of the pupil, an Indian girl, was found by rescuers at 8.30am and had been sent to the Kampar Hospital.

He told reporters at the Sekolah Kebangsaan Kuala Dipang that rescuers were unsure of the actual number of pupils feared missing and that the police had asked the education department to furnish the names of the pupils participating in the camp.

It had been reported earlier that 22 pupils had gone missing in the accident.