Devastated widow demands answers over hubby’s death in ship-rig collision
MIRI: Widow Nateshwari Dhusan is devastated by the loss of her husband, Aaron Michael Michael Rajasgara, 34, who died after the ship he was on collided with an oil rig platform off Kuala Baram on Tuesday.
She told The Borneo Post when contacted yesterday that she felt hopeless and she wanted answers as to why her husband had to die in the incident.
“How could such negligence happen? I have two young kids aged eight and five years old. My husband was still young and he did not deserve this. He was the breadwinner in our family,” she said.
“What were the captain, chief mate and second mate doing? What were the deck crew doing? Today they are alive, but my husband is no more,” she added.
Aaron Michael, who is from Negeri Sembilan, and Sarawakian Thomas Liang, 39, drowned after they jumped into the sea with 125 other offshore workers following the collision at 6.23am about 14 nautical miles from here.
According to a survivor, they were ordered to abandon ship for fear that there could be an explosion. The ship, MV Dayang Topaz, had struck the rig after its anchor wire gave way during adverse weather.
There were a total of 187 people on board the ship. All have been accounted for.
Nateshwari meanwhile hoped
that her husband’s body could be flown home to Negeri Sembilan soon.
“Now I am waiting and hoping to get him back on Friday or Saturday.
“Hopefully they can speed up the process,” she said, while thanking DESB Marine Services
Sdn Bhd, which owns the ship, for assisting her.
She said her late husband’s post-mortem was completed on Wednesday but the death certificate could not be released as the National Registration Department office was closed yesterday.