Johor MMEA found three more victims from the capsized boat in Teluk Ramunia

Nurul Hizam (right) pointing out on a map where the boat capsized near Teluk Ramunia.

KOTA TINGGI: Three more bodies of Indonesian women have been found after the boat they were in capsized at Teluk Ramunia here.

State Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency director First Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria said the latest discovery brought the total to five victims found so far.

Two bodies were found earlier on Thursday (Jan 20) shortly after the incident.

“The latest three remains were spotted about 1km from the site of the incident at around 7.30am.

“Three more people are still missing from the total of 27 immigrants who travelled on the boat from Pulau Bintan, Indonesia, before it capsized at 0.8 nautical miles (1.4km) off Teluk Ramunia at 4.50am,” he told a press conference on Thursday (Jan 20).

Nurul Hizam said the distance from Pulau Bintan to Teluk Ramunia is about 11 nautical miles (20.3km) while the distance between the Indonesia-Malaysia maritime boundary is about 6 nautical miles (11.1km).

“We believe the wooden boat was speeding when it was hit by a high wave, causing it to overturn,” he said, adding that it was probably going at 80km per hour when the incident took place.

According to reports, the boat was first noticed by the Malaysian Sea Vessel Tracking System before the incident at 3.45am.

A navy team was sent to track the boat.

As it neared the boat, the skipper tried to speed off, causing the boat to overturn and throwing all the passengers into the water.

Of the 27 people, five women were found dead while 19 others survived.

The bodies have been sent to the Kota Tinggi Hospital for a post-mortem while the survivors, aged between 20 and 40, were sent to the Malaysian Armed Forces post in Tanjung Sepang for further action.

This was the second boat capsize incident in a week involving illegal immigrants.

On Tuesday (Jan 18), seven Indonesian nationals were reportedly missing after their boat capsized in Pontian waters.

The boat, ferrying 13 passengers, believed to be illegal immigrants from Indonesia, capsized after being hit by strong waves as the group was attempting to enter the country.