HUTAN MELINTANG, Sept 6 – Five more bodies including a girls victim of the boat capsized off the coast of Sabak Bernam was founded on Saturday. It also bringing the latest death toll in the tragedy of 29 people who all believed to be Indonesian. District Police Chief of Hilir Perak ACP Mohd Shuhaily said all the bodies were found by the search and rescue teams between 2pm and 5pm.
He said the bodies of four men were found by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) between three and five nautical miles from the scene while the bodies of the girls were found KD Admiral Hang Nadim owned by the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) about 15 nautical miles from the coast beach.
“The body of the child was found on the most of the bodies were swept away relatively far from each other due to strong currents. We are expanding the operating area to 1,000 square kilometers of the assets in the sea while another 2,000 square kilometers of the aircraft in the air,” he told reporters at the Centre for Search and Rescue Operations in Forest Horizontal Jetty.
Elaborating the findings, Mohd Shuhaily said that the first and second bodies were found by aboard APMM at about 2 pm in the area near the estuary of Sungai Bernam here. On the way back, a navy vessel which was KM Danga also said they found another corpse. KD Admiral Hang Nadim who was quite far from the coast also inform that they were also founded the bodies of two-year-old girl,” he said.
He said MMEA members found the last body at about 5 pm and the bodies were then taken to Jetty Hutan Melintang. Search and rescue operations will be terminated at 7 pm, and resumed the next morning. Previously, the bodies of 19 women and five men were found while 20 others which including a woman survived after the boat carrying about 70 passengers capsized in waters off on Thursday morning.
40-feet boat sank while on its way from kuala Sungai Bernam to Tanjong Balai, Indonesia. The incident was occurred at the position of nine nautical miles southwest of Tanjong Sauh. Meanwhile, the Centre and Rescue Operations at the Hutan Melintang should be closed on Saturday and will be transferred back to the Jetty Bagan Nakhoda Omar, Sabak Bernam will be canceled.
APMM spokesman said the closure of the operation center had to be withdrawn due to circumstances Jetty Bagan Nakhoda Omar which was unsuitable for landing ship carrying a corpse. He added that this was due to the tides of uncertainty should not lead ship landed at the jetty.
