Sabak Bernam boat capsize: Five more bodies recovered

Five more victims involved in the boat capsize were recovered by the search and rescue team, bringing the total number of victims to 28 people

Hilir Perak District Police chief Assistant Commissioner, Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said all victims were discovered by the SAR team between 1.30pm and 4pm, Saturday.

“Three bodies were retrieved near Sungai Bernam estuary by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), three nautical miles from where the boat sunk.

“Two more bodies were discovered by the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) vessel some 15 miles nautical from the beach,” said Mohd Shuhaily at a press conference, here today.

Based on the discovery by the RMN vessel, the entire search area has been extended to 1,000 square kilometer and divided into nine sectors covered by maritime and 2,000 square kilometer by air assets.

According to Mohd Shuhaily, the extension of search area was necessary to curb concern over victims being washed ashore by current.

At present, six out of the 28 bodies involved the capsized boat tragedy early Thursday have been identified.

Five bodies were identified at Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh while another at Teluk Intan Hospital.

Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said the identification process were done with the help of next-of-kin and family members.

“Five bodies have been identified, mainly from Acheh – one male and 4 female. The rest have yet to be identified as the next-of-kin have not arrived. One body has been sent for post-mortem and was identified through the documents which were with the individual,” said Mohd Shuhaily.

Mohd Shuhaily said the cooperation from the victim’s families is welcomed to help accelerate the identification process.

The embassy will help in the identification process to communicate with the victims’ families in Indonesia.

Investigation into the incident is still under way including tracking down the owner or the skipper of the boat.

The 40-foot long boat capsized while on its way from Kuala Sungai Bernam to Tanjong Balai, Indonesia.

The incident occurred about nine nautical miles southwest of Tanjung Sauh.