Rescuers still searching for three victims of boat mishap off Kota Tinggi

KOTA TINGGI: A search and rescue mission is ongoing for three remaining victims of the boat capsize incident in Teluk Ramunia here.

State Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) director First Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria said the operation on Friday (Jan 21) involved 41 officers and personnel from the MMEA, police, Fire and Rescue Department and Civil Defence Force.

"The operation started at 7am and involved a search radius of 35.8 nautical miles (66km) from Tanjung Sepang towards Pengerang involving seven assets from all agencies.

"The search and rescue also involved land surveillance along the shoreline involving 20km, aside from drone surveillance by the Fire Department," he said in a statement.

A boat carrying 27 foreigners capsized near Teluk Ramunia here on Thursday (Jan 20), leaving two dead and six missing.

Nurul Hizam said the boat, from Pulau Bintan, Indonesia and headed towards Malaysia, capsized 0.8 nautical miles (1.4km) off Teluk Ramunia at 4.50am.

Of the 27 on board, five women were found dead while 19 survivors were rescued.

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