A water theme park today dismissed a rumour that went viral on WhatsApp recently which claimed that a group of kindergarten kids had been infected with a virus and then hospitalised after bathing there.

The management of Wet World Water Park Shah Alam said no such cases have been reported to date.

In a statement to Astro AWANI, they clarified that the rumour was started by unidentified and irresponsible individuals.

"Unidentified individuals have yet again used the social media to defame a renowned theme park in Shah Alam. Police reports were done by responsible citizens, which were informed to the Park Management.

"The Park Management, upon receiving such disturbing news and unfounded rumours, immediately lodged a police report and called up hospitals in Klang Valley to verify the claims," the statement said.

The statement said a hospital administrator also attested that should there be such a case, a public announcement by the Health Ministry would be made known.

The statement said the park's regular patrons were appalled that there were individuals capable of such malicious acts.

"The park is in no way affected by such a disease and the management have confirmation from the hospitals contacted that no fatalities nor any illnesses of the sort had been attended to by them at present," said the statement.

The park management urged the public to be cautious of rumours and report them under the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) as they are false in nature.

Recently, a 'report' went viral on social media, particularly the WhatsApp application, claiming that a group of preschool children who had patronised the venue were infected with a virus that made their fingers turn black and needed to be amputated, in addition to suffering blisters on the mouth.

The rumour claimed that the kids subsequently received treatment at Sungai Buloh Hospital. The 'information' apparently came from Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL).

This is not the first time the theme park is faced with such an incident. In 2012, a rumour circulated claiming that one of the theme park's visitors had died from leptospirosis after bathing in the water that was allegedly contaminated by rat urine.

That 'report', however, was later found to be false.