Kluang district police chief Low Hang Seng said the 5.30pm incident occurred when the Proton Waja car, driven by Md Rajihan Junaidi, 28, was crossing the flooded road stretch.

The victim’s wife, Khairunnisa Ibrahim, 25, was also in the car during the incident.

“Based on the police report lodged by Khairunnisa at 10.35pm last night at the Kahang police station, the car was swept away by strong currents to the right side of the road,” he said.

Low said Rajihan managed to break the car window to save his wife before the woman was rescued by members of the public.

However, he said the victim who was in the car was swept away by the current.

The search and rescue operation was immediately launched but it proved futile due to darkness and the strong currents, Low added.

The operation, which involved police personnel and the Fire and Rescue Department, to locate Rajihan resumed today.

In PERAK, a five-year-old boy drowned when he lost his balance and was swept away by currents while playing in Sungai Jerong Bikam, Sungkai, today.

Tapah district police chief Wan Azharuddin Wan Ismail said the victim, Muhamad Amsyar Mohd Zamri, was playing in the river during heavy rain with two siblings and a cousin, when the incident took place at 10.45am.

“The boys, aged between five and 11, started playing in the river without the family’s knowledge at 10.30am.

‘’When the victim lost his balance and was swept away, the other three ran to tell their mothers at a house about 200 metres from the scene,” he said.

A search party found the victim at 11.30am, about 15 metres from where he had fallen.

The victim and his family, from Felda Besout 2 here, had arrived at a relative’s house in Kampung Bikam only yesterday.