A 12-year-old girl drowned while three other children were swept away by strong currents during an outing at the Lubuk Semilang waterfall here Thursday.

Firemen from the Langkawi Fire and Rescue Department retrieved the body of Qistina Puteri Wira at 6pm, about 800 metres from where she disappeared.

The department's operations commander, Mohd Hisyam Ibrahim said after recovering the body, the firemen initiated a search and rescue (SAR) operation to locate the missing victims identified as Siti Aisyah Kassim, five, Nur Iman Waheeda Mohd Basri, 11, and Anis Satirah, 12.

However until 10pm last night, the SAR operation was still ongoing.

Meanwhile, Langkawi acting police chief DSP Mahani Mohamad said the families of the missing girls had not lodged a report to the police over the incident.

-- BERNAMA