CHUKAI, Aug 12 – The search and rescue (SAR) operation for the two remaining victims of the fishing boat capsizing incident in the waters of Kemaman resumed Monday morning.
The two missing victims are Yusof Kassam, 66, from Raub, Pahang, and Aina Hasna Mohamad Husaini, 25, from Selayang, Selangor.
Kemaman Maritime Zone operations deputy director Muhammad Faisal Abdul Rahim said the operation involves 25 personnel from various agencies and the deployment of three maritime and two aerial assets.
“The three maritime assets belong to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), the Royal Malaysia Police, and the Royal Malaysian Navy. The aerial assets comprise a helicopter owned by the Fire and Rescue Department and a Bombardier belonging to MMEA.
“Today’s search area has been expanded to 262 square miles, with 195 square miles allocated for the air sector and 67 square miles for the sea sector,” he told reporters at the SAR forward base at the MMEA Kemaman Maritime Zone.
He said the search is expected to proceed smoothly with normal wave heights of 0.5 to 1 metre and winds blowing from the southwest at around 10 to 15 knots.
He said this second day of the SAR operation is focused on the waters of Kemaman and Kijal, not far from where the second body, that of assistant tekong Shahril Ismail, 50, was found yesterday.
In the incident, which occurred at about 6.30 am yesterday, the fishing boat carrying nine people capsized after being struck by a barge approximately seven nautical miles or 13 kilometres off Kuala Kemaman.
Two people, identified as Siti Zamimah Mohman Zamani, 29, and Shahril, drowned in the incident while Yusof and Aina Hasna are still missing. The other five individuals were rescued.
