THE age-old Malay proverb, “Malang tidak berbau,” or misfortune has no smell, best portrays the condition of a river in Terengganu which went viral recently.
In the video recording, an unidentified river in Lata Payung, which appeared calm and tranquil, quickly turned violent although the weather was sunny.
It shows just how dangerous a surge is, which came without any warning. Prompted by the video, netizen @MalehAkuh claimed that a student had drowned here several days ago.
DALAM masa beberapa saat sahaja….kepala air mengubah keadaan air terjun daripada tenang menjadi merbahaya….
Kejadian di Lata Payung, Terengganu semalam.
Justeru, berhati-hati dan sentiasa peka bila berada di kawasan air terjun…. suasana boleh berubah dalam sekelip mata-… pic.twitter.com/jRkZoYzcie
— MYNEWSHUB (@mynewshub) May 17, 2025
It was no other than Abed Mifzal Azman, 22, a student from Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin who was swept away by a similar flood surge while picnicking with six friends at the recreational forest of Lata Payung. the boy was found approximately one kilometres from the last location he was seen.
Likely, the video showed a similar surge that killed him. Another netizen said he bathed here once in a while. “Before going down, read some prayers first,” he recommended.
Also, @MrBeary7 said he never felt safe in such a place although it appears beautiful.
Note that flash floods or surges usually occur in tropical and mountainous regions during or after heavy rainfall.
When rain pours in the headwaters of a river far upstream, large volumes of water collect and begin to flow downhill.
Also, debris like logs or landslides may temporarily dam the water, which suddenly breaks free and causes a flash surge downstream. This results in the water becoming muddy, besides carrying logs, rocks and debris. —May 19, 2025
Main image: @mynewshub (X)
