Sabah boat mishap: Two survivors relate their harrowing ordeal

One of the survivors, identified as He, appeared exhausted and sad when he arrived at the Marine police jetty here just before 2am Monday.

PETALING JAYA: Two survivors from the capsized catamaran, which sunk on its way to Pulau Mengalum on the first day of Chinese New Year, spoke about their harrowing ordeal.  

According to Singapore's Nanyang Post, both lost an immediate family member in the mishap.   

One of the survivors, identified as He, appeared exhausted and sad when he arrived at the Marine police jetty here just before 2am Monday.  

"Laying next to me is my wife.  

"When the boat capsized, we were separated by the waves ... she did not survive," he said while sobbing.   

Another survivor, Wei, told the Nanyang Post that his mother did not survive the ordeal.   

"My mom is gone," Wei said.  

According to the Nanyang Post, other survivors had told reporters that two passengers out of the six who were still missing were dead but this has yet to be confirmed by the authorities.  

The catamaran was carrying 28 Chinese nationals and three crew members when it sank at about 10am on Saturday after being hit by strong winds and huge waves.   

The boat departed from the Tanjung Aru jetty an hour earlier to  Pulau Mengalum, a tourist attraction about 56km northwest of Kota Kinabalu.  

A search effort began immediately after the company operating the vessel reported the incident to authorities some 12 hours after the incident.  

Twenty of the China nationals survived their 32-hour ordeal at sea after being rescued at about 6pm on Sunday by a fishing trawler. Three were found dead.   

Another six, including one remaining crewman, were still missing.