Father & daughter almost drown after falling into hole during high tide at Sungei Buloh

SINGAPORE — A near-drowning is a serious thing, and a man took to Instagram to share his experience after he and his young daughter fell into a hole at a bridge at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.

A heavy downpour, along with rising water, covered the bridge, and Mr Bucky Hussain, carrying his daughter Ashley, did not see that the planks on the bridge had been dislodged as they fell into the gap.

Fortunately, he had the presence of mind to hold tight to her while grabbing what he could off the bridge and, with the help of some young people nearby, managed to get to safety.

His wife and young son, who were with them, were helped to safety as well, and his daughter was unhurt.

“The hole was a literal death trap and if a child, older person or even a less aware adult fell in, we would be reading about their loss in tomorrow’s front page news,” he wrote in an Instagram post on Jan 24.

Mr Hussain was also bothered by the response from some authorities, who did not appear to take the situation as seriously as it warranted.

Wishing to warn others, he went to the visitor’s centre at Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve to talk to the National Parks Board (NParks), but there was no staff on duty.

They also called the hotline of the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) in the hopes they would help warn others. However, the operator merely asked if they needed an emergency ambulance.

Mr Hussain wrote that the operator said, “I think you have the wrong number. This is the emergency ambulance. You should address this to the right agency.”

He wrote, “I hung up, but not before telling the operator that if someone calls needing an ambulance or worse for the same issue I warned him about, he will regret it.”

In the caption to his post, however, he wrote that he was “Glad @nparksbuzz responded quickly” and in the comments, he added that the agency had staff on the ground and had fixed the hole.

Many netizens have commented on Mr Hussain’s IG post to say they were glad the family is safe, including Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, who met the family before.

Also, in an update, Mr Hussain added, “@myscdf reached out and apologised for how the operator handled this incident.”

He also ended his IG post with some takeaways after the harrowing experience.

/TISG

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