Father and two children die in boat capsize in waters off Kunak

KOTA KINABALU: A father and two of his children drowned in waters off Sabah's east coast Kunak district after their boat capsized on Thursday (Jan 13).

The body of the father, whose two children were recovered late Thursday, recovered Friday (Jan 14), Kunak district police chief Supt Sabarudin Rahmat said.

He said the body of Saujal Mangguna, 31, was found floating near Pulau Tagabua at 10.40am by the search and rescue team, fishermen and family members during the operation.

Two others, who were found drowned Thursday were the victim's son identified as Mohd Haizal, 5 and his sister, Suriani, 3 while their mother who survived was identified as Kalsum Alam, 35.

Supt Sabarudin said the total number of victims who died was three while another survived the incident.

He said that SAR relayed the message of the discovery of the body floating near the island.

"Family members confirmed that the floating body was the last victim in the boat sinking incident," he added.

He said that the victim's death was classified as sudden death and the body was sent to Kunak Hospital for autopsy.

Sabarudin said that the incident happened when all the victims were on their way from their village in Kampung Bangkuruan Lahad Datu to Pekan Kunak on Thursday.

"They are believed to have gone out to buy daily necessities in Pekan Kunak and as soon as they arrived at the location, the boat they were on was hit by waves due to strong winds and caused their boat to capsize," he said.

Sabarudin also advised the public or villagers to take safety measures and always be careful when carrying out activities at sea, especially in stormy weather and rough seas.

"People who use the sea as a communication route are advised to always wear life vests and carry along other safety equipment," he added.