Second body found, search continues for four more
SANDAKAN: A second body, that of a woman, was recovered yesterday after a fishing boat with 11 people on board from Pulau Taganak in the Philippines capsized while on its way to Sandakan on Thursday.
Five of the victims were rescued by the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) on Friday, while the body of a seven-year-old boy was found not far from where the boat capsized at five nautical miles from Pulau Nunuyan Laut, off Sandakan.
The woman whose body was found yesterday was believed to be among five people, including two children, reported missing.
According to Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), the fishing boat capsized after being hit by strong waves around 6.30pm on Feb 28.
“A RMN vessel, CB217, that was conducting training operation in the area spotted the victims in the waters and immediately carried out the rescue operation.
“MMEA Operations Centre received a distress call at 12.20pm on March 1, and we immediately deployed our assets to the location to conduct a search and rescue (SAR) operation,” said its deputy director Commander Mohd Khairulanuar Abd Majid.
The seven-year-old boy whose body was fished out from the water has been identified as Kimar b Herman, from Jolo, Philippines.
“The deceased’s uncle, who was one of the survivors, confirmed the boy’s identity,” said Mohd Khairulanuar.
According to a statement by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) here yesterday, the search operation involving personnel from the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) Naval Region Two (Mawilla 2) here, the Marine Police and the Malaysian Civil Defence Force was halted at 6 pm yesterday evening.
The search operation was activated at about 2 pm on Friday after three men and two women who were drifting for 18 hours at sea after the incident, were rescued by the Royal Malaysian Navy at Friday noon.
The search and rescue operation for four more victims will resume at 7 am today.