Use of illegal route among factors sunken boat tragedy goes unnoticed - police

The use of unknown and illegal route is among the factors the sunken speedboat tragedy here last Tuesday went unnoticed and the victims could not be rescued, Tawau Police chief ACP Fadil Marsus said.

He said the use of such an unknown route by boat operator was not only illegal, but had put innocent lives at risks.

"When a boat took an unknown alternative route at sea, its movement will also be unknown to the authorities and if the boat sinks, innocent lives would easily perish as the search and rescue team cannot be quickly deployed to the unknown location," he told reporters here Thursday.

He said this in response to the sunken speedboat tragedy, which was only discovered 24 hours later, and hence late deployment of the search and rescue team.

Fadil said efforts to track down the victims' families or next of kin in Tawau, as well as the speedboat owner and the agent responsible for arranging the trip, were ongoing.

Last Tuesday, a speedboat carrying 15 Indonesian nationals, including the skipper, sank after it was believed to have been hit by strong waves after leaving the Tinagat Batu Payung jetty at 5.30 pm for Sungai Nyamuk Indonesia.

However, two of them - Budiman Muslimin, 26 and his wife, Hasmida Masaniaga, 24, from Sulawesi - managed to save themselves by swimming to Pantai Batu Payung.

Search is still on for another 13 people.

Speaking to Bernama here, Budiman said the speedboat was hit by huge waves and broke into two pieces four minutes after leaving the jetty.

"The moment the boat began to sink, there was nothing anyone could do. It was chaotic. Those who know how to swim were trying to save themselves, but those who couldn't swim were doomed to drown," he said while holding back tears as his one-year-old daughter had also drowned during the incident.

Budiman said he and his wife had to swim while holding on to just one life jacket, which kept them afloat, for over 10 hours before they were spotted and rescued by a group of anglers at the Batu Payung beach yesterday.

"We never stop praying and my wife had turned weaker and weaker each time I looked at her, but we continue swimming until somebody finally heard our screams for help," he said, adding that they were in Sabah to visit their relatives in Lahad Datu. -- Bernama