Toddler’s drowning triggers probe

By DERRICK VINESH and TAN SIN CHOW 
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

BUTTERWORTH: The Penang Welfare Department has ordered the immediate closure of the nursery in Paya Terubong where a toddler was found dead in a baby bathtub.

Department director Zulkifli Ismail said Strawberry Childcare Centre would stay closed indefinitely pending investigations.

Stella Chew Xing Rou, who would have turned two on June 23, was found drowned in a tub in a bathroom at about 1pm on Monday.

A teacher found her lying face down in the tub filled with water when she searched for her after she went missing from the group of children under her supervision.

It was a heart-wrenching scene at the Batu Gantong crematorium when the couple cried and were hugged by more than 20 family members and relatives just before Xing Rou's cremation.

Penang Health, Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said initial investigations showed that the nursery did not have a licence from the Penang Municipal Council and was not registered with the state Welfare Department.

He said the nursery, which had been in operation for a few years, had applied for a licence last year but failed to meet certain requirements of the council.