PORT DICKSON: The dream of 30-year-old R. Kalaivani was to get married to her fiance J. Sathiswaran, 29, in November. But this was not to be.

The bride-to-be, the eldest of six siblings, and two of her sisters drowned in Pantai Cahaya near here yesterday. Sathiswaran was rescued in the incident.

Kalaivani's cousin R. Thammanty, 30, said Kalaivani had also made preparations to hold her pre-wedding ceremony.

"Their loss is a shock to us. Kalaivani and Sathiswaran had been engaged for eight years and had been saving up for their wedding in November. But she (Kalavani) and her younger sisters are now gone.

"Kalaivani and her fiance lived in Taiping, Perak, and had returned on Saturday to be with Kalaivani's family in Banting, Selangor for the holidays. My cousin and I were very close and her house is close by.

"Everything was normal when we met; she was cheerful," she told reporters at the Port Dickson Hospital's forensics unit here today.

Kalaivani's sisters who also drowned were Dawige, 29, and Sathiyadevi, 19, while her brother Veeran, 26, and Sathiswaran were rescued by members of the public.

Thammanty said her cousins' holiday with their mother K. Anchalay, 52, yesterday was their first in Port Dickson.

Thammanty said she knew Veeran had taken the family car from the parking lot in front of the house at about 2 pm, and she became worried when they were not back by nightfall.

"Then I received a call from my aunt informing me that my cousins had died. I initially thought they had met with an accident, only to find out later that they had all drowned," she added.

--BERNAMA