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A man from Singapore who brought his family to a Desaru beach resort in September for a holiday came back with a story to tell.

The 45-year-old man, surname Xie (in Hanyu Pinyin), told Chinese media Shin Min Daily News (Shin Min) that they were strolling along Tanjung Balau beach on Sep. 9 morning.

The family decided to drive to the beach as they had arrived too early to enter the Adventure Waterpark at Desaru Coast.

Xie's wife recalled seeing 30 to 40 people shouting at the beach, and around five or six people were in the water.

She initially thought they were frolicking in the water but later noticed a person was struggling to keep their head above water.

That was when she sensed something was amiss, she told Shin Min.

Man jumped into water to rescue drowning teens

Seeing that no one on the shore was doing anything, Xie immediately removed his top and jumped in to rescue the people in the water. Xie's wife added that Xie used to play water polo and so was confident enough to rescue them.

Xie rushed to rescue a boy and a teenage girl first, as they were separated from three other girls who were holding onto a life buoy.

On land, a few students found a small boat. As they could not find any oars, they used wooden planks to paddle towards the people in the water.

According to Xie's wife, Xie and the students pulled the boy and teenage girl up onto the small boat.

One of the students tried to resuscitate the boy while Xie swam back to save the three other girls.

Xie managed to bring the girls back to the boat and helped pull the boat up onto shore.

The boy was later sent to the hospital.

Failed to rescue a girl

After they got back to the shore, Xie learnt from one of the girls that there was another girl who was being carried away by the currents.

The Shin Min report did not state if the girl survived the ordeal.

Xie shared that he felt guilty about not noticing the girl while he was in the water.

Xie's wife told Shin Min that her husband felt he should have jumped into the water earlier, but she comforted him that he had tried his best.

The couple also learnt from the locals that the currents can be strong in that area and drowning cases are not uncommon.

Top image from Shin Min Daily News