Ipoh: A 17-year-old boy has died after falling at the Buntong Waterfall here today.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Perak Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) acting assistant director of Operations, Shazlean Mohd Hanafiah, said an emergency call was received from the Ministry of Health at 11.26 am requesting assistance to bring the victim down. He said a team from the Meru Raya Fire and Rescue Station was dispatched to the scene.

‘Upon arriving at the foothill, the team had to trek about one kilometre before reaching the location where the victim had fallen. The victim, who had sustained injuries, received initial treatment from medical personnel before being pronounced dead,’ he said in a statement today. Shazlean added that the operation was fully concluded by 2.20 pm.

In a separate statement tonight, Ipoh police chief ACP Abang Zainal Abidin Abang Ahmad said the teenager had gone to the waterfall with six friends. “One of his friends saw him climb to the top of the waterfall to see the view from above, before he suddenly fell or slipped from the rock ledge. The ambulance team that was dispatched to the site pronounced the victim dead at the scene. No criminal elements were detected based on statements from the witnesses, who were all his friends,” he said.

A post-mortem conducted at the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital’s Forensic Department in Ipoh found the cause of death to be “blunt force trauma to the head,” he said. He added that samples of the victim’s blood and urine were taken for analysis by the chemistry department, and the case has been classified as sudden death.

The police chief advised the public to exercise more caution during recreational activities at waterfalls, particularly on slippery and hazardous rocky surfaces. “For any enquiries, please contact the investigating officer, Sgt M T Michael Jevadas, directly at 016-532 5208,” he said.