A Deepavali picnic at Sungai Pertak in Kuala Kubu Bharu turned tragic on Monday, November 9, 2026, when a sudden water surge swept away several people, leaving multiple victims missing and dozens stranded across swollen riverbanks.
The water surge incident at Sungai Pertak, Kuala Kubu Bharu in Hulu Selangor involved 34 people in separate groups, leaving 19 individuals rescued while search and rescue operations continued for those missing.
According to Asrul Riezal Asbar, assistant operations director for the Selangor fire and rescue department, an emergency alert was logged by personnel around 5.55pm, with officers reaching the location by 6.30pm (Free Malaysia Today). Ashrul Riezal Asbar stated that the department received its first distress call at 6.37pm involving five Yemenis who were hiking in the area, noting that one of them was swept away by the current while the other four were safe (The Star).
A team of firefighters from the Kuala Kubu Bharu Fire and Rescue Station was dispatched following the report, and authorities subsequently opened an incident control post to monitor water conditions and surrounding areas (Free Malaysia Today, The Star).
“Three minutes later, we received another report involving seven people comprising a local, a Sri Lankan, a Nepalese and four Indians, who were swept away by the strong currents,” said Selangor fire and rescue department assistant operations director Asrul Riezal Asbar.
Ashrul Riezal reported that all 19 stranded individuals located at Lata Jerlus, Kem Luit, and Gunung Rajah were successfully brought to safety (The Star). The stranded groups included four individuals who did not cross the river, five stranded across the river, and seven others reported safe (Free Malaysia Today, The Star).
Local officials found the body of a victim identified as V. Vijayan at around 1.30am on Tuesday at a bridge about 2.7km from the Sungai Pertak picnic site, with the 36-year-old local man believed to have gathered to celebrate the festival (South China Morning Post, NST Online).
At 11.15am, search teams pulled four additional victims from the river at Lata Jebus, Sungai Luit, Kampung Pertak, after they had been carried off by the water surge, lifting the overall death toll to five (NST Online).
At 9.20am, search personnel discovered three deceased individuals caught on the riverbank close to Jambatan Senget, sitting roughly 950m away from Lata Jebus, while an additional body was located at 10.20am near a suspension bridge situated about 50m past Jambatan Senget and roughly 1km distant from the primary accident location (NST Online).
All four bodies, whose identities have yet to be established, were taken to the Fire and Rescue Department’s forward control post in Kampung Pertak (NST Online). With three individuals remaining missing, the search and rescue operation continues to locate the remaining victims (NST Online).
