PARIT BUNTAR, July 3 — Two half-sisters were found drowned in a canal 500 metres from their house in Kampung Kuala Bagan Tiang near here, yesterday.

The bodies of Nor Ayuni Najatul Abdul Az Zahir, eight, and Nor Anisa Najwa Mohd Zaki, 10, were found by the villagers at 6pm.

Acting Kerian Police chief DSP Sanusi Salleh said the sisters are believed to have stopped and played at the canal on their way home from a religious school.

He said the bodies of the two girls were taken to Parit Buntar Hospital for post-mortems.

Their father, Mohd Zaki Abdullah, 45, said the girls were not home when he returned from work at 7pm, which prompted him to go and look for them around the neighbourhood.

"Then, a villager told me that the body of a girl was found in the canal. I was shocked to learn later that it was Nor Anisa Najwa, before Nor Ayuni Najatul was found too,” he said, adding that the two girls would be laid to rest at the Bagan Tiang Muslim cemetery today. — Bernama