Man goes missing after boat trip to Pulau Buntal near Sandakan

Firemen searching for a missing man near Kg Semaian and Pulau Buntal, Sandakan.

KOTA KINABALU: The search is on for a missing man after his abandoned boat with traces of blood was found listing in waters close to Pulau Buntal in Sandakan on Thursday (March 30) evening.

The owner of the boat, identified as Jamil Samson, in his 60s, was said to have gone out from his house to Pulau Buntal earlier that day, and was supposed to return in the afternoon.

The villager who discovered the boat then went on to lodge a police report about a missing person.

State Fire and Rescue Department assistant director of operations Hamsa Isnurdini said a search operation was mounted for Jamil after the report was made.

"We were told that Jamil had gone out earlier that day to give local treatment to a villager in the nearby Pulau Buntal, some 15 minutes boat ride from where he lived at Kg Semaian, prior to his disappearance," he said in a statement on Friday (March 31).

"However, he did not return home after that and his boat that was used to go to the island was found not far from the island and village at around 6pm," he said.

Hamsa said the person who saw the boat had gone to check for clues and found that there were traces of blood on board.

Police and other security forces were informed of the incident, and search operations were mounted, he said.

In a separate incident in another district, a 56-year-old man drowned during a family outing at Kg Karambunai Baru in Tuaran, on Thursday (March 30).

Hamsa said the victim Mohd Bustaman Hamma, was said to have been swimming in the river prior to that.

He said a report about this incident was received at 3.01pm, and a search and rescue team was sent to respond together with the help of other security agencies including the police.

"Our men used the surface water rescue technique with the aid of tracking dogs from the K9 Unit among other means to find the victim," he said.

The victim’s body was discovered by members of the public some 500m from where he was last seen a few hours later and he was pronounced dead by medical officers on scene, Hamsa said.

The body was handed over to police for further action and operations ceased at 9pm.