Owner, crew held
KOTA KINABALU: The owner, captain and a crew member of the catamaran that sank while ferrying 27 Chinese tourists from Tanjung Aru here to Pulau Mengalum on Saturday were arrested by police yesterday to assist in investigations into the tragedy.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Ramli Din said the trio were detained to ascertain if they had breached safety procedures that led to the catamaran to capsize about 60km off t he coast of Kota Kinabalu.
They have been remanded for three days from yesterday.
Ramli said the captain, 25, and the Filipino crewman, 38, were the first to be rescued by a fishing boat on Sunday.
The tourists were on a sightseeing trip on the first day of Chinese New Year. They had left the Tanjung Aru jetty for Pulau Mengalum at 9am with the skipper and two crewmen.
When they failed to return to base hours past their expected arrival, the authorities were alerted and a search was mounted.
Within hours, rescuers spotted the skipper and colleague before the other survivors were rescued near Pulau Tiga, about 40km off Pulau Mengalum.
Search parties comprising marine police, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, Royal Malaysian Navy and local fishing communities have so far recovered three bodies and rescued 20 Chinese tourists apart from the captain and a crewman.
Four tourists and a crewman remain missing and the search for them is ongoing.
The survivors were taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Sabah authorities have said all locally registered boats of such class were only
SURVIVORS
1. Yan Yan Xin (male, 50) 2. Fan Li Xia (male, 40) 3. Yan Si Yi (female, 17) 4. Shen Hao Tian (male, 17) 5. Yang Yao Ru (female, 24) 6. Wang Xian Zhang (female, 48) 7. Cao Dong Tue (female, age not
given) 8. Wei Yin (male, age not given) 9. Lu Guo Hang (gender and age not
given) 10. Li Feng (female, 39) 11. Chen Xin Jian (female, 23) 12. Her Hai Min (male, 22) 13. He Zi Hao (female, 20) 14. Guo Shun Ke (male, 48) 15. Tan Ting (female, 31) 16. Zeng Cui Can (male, 55) 17. Liu Jin Can (male, 31) 18. Liu Juan (female, 32) 19. Liu Fei Tong (male, 32) 20. Chen Xi (female, 11). (Two crew members from Sabah)
DECEASED
1. He Run Yuan (female, 46) 2. Zhang Xioa Kun (male, age not given) (yet to be identified) 3.
MISSING
1. Sheng Jiang Jiang (male, 50) 2. Dong Mei (female, age not given) 3. Luo Hong Yuan (male, 51) 4. Lu Gua Hang (male, 25) 5. Absoy Kasim (crew member, male,
age no given). allowed to carry 12 passengers although the boats can seat 31.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said he was closely monitoring the search operations for the missing crew member and tourists and has ordered a thorough investigation.
“I view the incident seriously, and I want a comprehensive investigation to be done on the cause of the incident,” he posted on his Facebook and Twitter accounts yesterday.
Najib, however, said the focus now should be entirely on the search for the five remaining victims, who have yet to be found at press time.
Bernama reports that the survivors arrived here early yesterday.
The group of twenty, with the bodies of three who died in the tragedy, arrived on a fishing boat escorted by an MMEA vessel and a marine police boat.
The two-tier fishing vessel flying the Jalur Gemilang docked at the Kota Kinabalu Marine Police jetty at about 1.45am.
Police and a medical team rushed to receive the victims, who were first given medical attention on the jetty.