Tanjung Balau tragedy: One body found, one rescued victim dies

KOTA TINGGI: The body of a man believed to be a victim of a boat capsize incident in Tanjung Balau, was found floating near the Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority (LKIM) Complex in Tanjung Batu Layar, here, about five nautical miles from the scene of the incident.

Johor Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) deputy director Maritime Captain Simon Templer Lo Tusa said the fully clothed body was believed to have died more than two days ago.

He said the body was found by fishermen at about 9.50 am and would be taken to the mortuary for a post-mortem and identification.

"In addition, I was informed that a victim of the boat tragedy, who was earlier rescued, died this morning. The cause of death is still being investigated by the Ministry of Health," he told reporters at LKIM, here today.

Simon said the rescued victim died in Kota Tinggi Hospital at 4.15 am today.

Earlier, in a statement today Simon said the search sector covered Tanjung Balau to Tanjung Penawar.

Three aircraft were mobilised for an aerial search today involving an AW139 helicopter from MMEA, a Royal Malaysia Police Air Operations Force helicopter and an Mi-17 helicopter from the Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM).

According to Simon, the sea search involved five marine assets, namely, a maritime ship, KM Tegas as the 'On Scene Coordinator', a navy boat and three police assets, including a ship and two boats.

Meanwhile, coastal search was conducted by other agencies, namely, Malaysian Armed Forces, JBPM, police and the Malaysian Civil Defence Force, he added.

The SAR operation today involved 128 personnel and officers from various agencies.

With the latest find, the number of victims who died rose to 21 people while more than 17 people are still missing.

In the tragedy on Wednesday, 50 Indonesian illegal immigrants were reportedly involved in the boat capsize incident in the waters of Tanjung Balau, Kota Tinggi.

-- BERNAMA