KLANG: The Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) has not ruled out the possibility that two missing victims of a boat capsized in the waters off Tanjung Harapan yesterday were swept away by currents while the boat was being towed to the floating jetty of the Selangor Maritime Headquarters here.
Port Klang Fire and Rescue Department (BBP) head, Deputy Superintendent Haikal Jammy Ngali said from initial investigations, the boat the victims were on was towed by a public boat for 0.3 nautical miles before they received a distress call regarding the incident at around 5 pm the same day.
He said the department also did not rule out the possibility that the victims, who were a married couple, were thrown overboard during the capsize.
“Although the sunken boat was successfully refloated, the two victims being sought were not inside the boat, thus strengthening the fire department’s theory that the two victims drifted away with the current.
“So far, the rescue team has only carried out surface search-level as opposed to deep diving because the fire department has not been able to ascertain the exact location of the capsize,” he said at a press conference which was also attended by North Klang police chief ACP S. Vijaya Rao at the search location in Tanjung Harapan here today.
Meanwhile, Vijaya said the police party has not found any clues regarding the two missing victims even though the search radius covered an area of five nautical miles.
Regarding the refloated boat, he said it would be taken to the Port Klang Marine Police base for further inspection and investigation, including technical aspects.
“In addition, we would also like to inform that the bodies of the three victims, including a three-year-old child who died in the incident, have been claimed by the family after the post-mortem was completed at the Shah Alam Hospital today,” he said.
Vijaya also stated that the search and rescue operation was suspended at 7 pm and will resume tomorrow morning.
In the capsize of the boat with six on board at about 5 pm, three individuals, including a child, died, while one survivor, Alvin Chang Yan Qin, 17, was rescued, and the married couple is still missing.
The deceased victims were Darren Gan, 3; Cheu Son Hin, 50; and Fong Yong Sen, 29, while the missing were identified as Gan Hon Tat, 32, and his wife Careen Man, 29, both from Klang Utama.
