In the Kinta Valley in Perak Malaysia, there were numerous mining pools that were abandoned after tin miners had mined the tin deposits either using an opencast mine or a dredge.
Once the mines are deserted, what is left behind is a large lake of water that looks harmless. It is home to a variety or fish and villagers and neighbours turn up in droves to fish with a net or hook and line. The abandoned tin mines look calm and peaceful and attract fishing folk from the surrounding villages who have found the fish in these pools to be succulent and tasty. A good catch in a day would feed the family for a few days. Not known to these amateur fishing folk was the dangers that abound in these innocent looking mining pools.
The mining pool with its calm waters looked pretty and inviting. Swimmers of all descriptions would descend on the pool for a bath as tap water was not readily available then and it was the norm in years gone by for villagers living nearby to bathe in these pools. The public standpipes were few and far in between and the womenfolk in the Kampong often busied themselves at these standpipes for washing clothes and having their bath. The young men preferred to bathe at these pools rather than at the standpipes as there were opportunities at merrymaking and gossiping. My maternal uncle was a good swimmer, but he was a busy man and had little time for sporting activities especially swimming in a mining pool. Whenever he found the time we youngsters would be happy as he would invite us to the pool for a dip. The elders in the house would not object as they knew there was some adult supervision and the young ones would be disciplined and would not get into any mischief.
It was one of those days when our uncle invited us for a swim in the pool. There were a total of 5 children who accompanied him. We were merrymaking and singing as we headed to the mining pool. There were a few other children swimming in the mining pool making loud noises as they splashed their hands and legs in the water. My uncle warned them not to swim to the centre of the pool as he said it was deep and there were strong currents in the centre of the pool. The boys ignored his warnings and a few of them ventured on to the deep waters where my uncle had warned them earlier that they should not venture into that area. Very soon we heard cries for help. However his friends were amused. They assumed that their friends were playing and pretended to be in trouble. They laughed it off and continued to play with their game. My uncle too assumed the boys were up to pranks but as the cries for help turned to hysteria he started to get worried and without a second thought he started to swim towards the boys but by the time he reached the boys two boys went under the water. My uncle too dived into the water but the depth and strong currents drove him up. He realised it was a futile attempt and directed two boys to the nearby Fire and Rescue station to seek help. Somehow the kampong folk became aware that something was brewing at the pool and soon a large crowd had gathered by the mining pool. Some of the elderly folk who had seen similar incidents in the past realised that they were going to witness some unfortunate incident and were seen whispering prayers hoping whoever is in the water would be saved. As soon as the Rescue Officers arrived they assessed the situation and waded to where the boys were and dived into the deeper part of the pool to search for the two boys who had not surfaced. They spotted one boy moving his arms and legs in desperation. One of the officers caught him by the hair and dragged him up and left him in the care of his team members to render first aid before diving in again in search of the other missing boy.
Unknown to him, a local, the pool was far too deep in the centre and there were indications there was a whirlpool where even a good swimmer could get caught and meet with a fatal accident if he is caught in that whirlpool. These were mysteries that the miners and even the locals were not aware of. The Rescue Officer who went into the pool came up empty handed and declared he was not able to spot the boy to the disappointment of the members of the public who were waiting in anticipation of a rescue. The mother of the boy began wailing and begged the Rescue Officers to make more attempts. Some of the boys’ relatives who could swim jumped into the pool more to appease the mother as they knew time had passed and it was impossible to find the missing boy alive. After about ten minutes all the rescue team members and volunteers came out of the pool and declared they could not find the missing boy. It was heart wrenching to hear the mother wailing and pleading with the volunteers to try again and not to give up until the boy is found. She as well as most of the volunteers were not aware of the contours of the mining pool and were left wondering how the boy could have disappeared without a trace. As it was getting dark most of the onlookers called it a day and left the pool site. Only the mother and some close relatives were left on the banks. Except for the mother, the rest realised that the boy was dead and his body would surface in the morning. Around 10 the next morning, one of the relatives spotted a body floating in the centre of the pool and reported to the Rescue Officers.
The Rescue Officers used a boat to get to the site where the body was reported. They fished out the bloated body that had evidence of bite marks apparently made by the fish in the pool.The mother could not recognise her son because of the bloated body until she saw a ring on his left ring finger. It was heart wrenching to hear the mother’s wailing when she realised her son was no more.
All contents (c) Ganapathy Ramasamy, mynameisgana@blogspot.com
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