Langkawi fire and rescue department zone 4 chief Zamri Abdul Ghani said the department received a call about the incident at 9pm, and a team from the Persiaran Putra station arrived about 22 minutes later.

“They learned that the victim, Arash Nashran Abdul Maser, 23, had gone missing about 100m from the beach.

“He was trying to retrieve a jetski that had drifted away when strong waves swept him into the water. It is understood that he wasn’t wearing a life jacket at the time,” Bernama reported him as saying.

Zamri said the victim has yet to be found despite preliminary search efforts conducted along the shoreline by firefighters and members of the public.

“The water rescue team will begin search-and-rescue operations tomorrow morning to locate the victim,” he added.