Search continues for Langkawi boat capsize victims as two more survivors found, including teen who survived on river water for four days
LANGKAWI: The search and rescue operation for victims of the Langkawi boat capsize entered its third day with the search radius expanded to 272.78 square nautical miles.
The Malaysia-Thailand joint operation was launched after a boat capsized near Tarutao Island carrying approximately 300 undocumented migrants.
Langkawi police chief ACP Khairul Azhar Nuruddin said eleven bodies have been transferred from Sultanah Maliha Hospital to Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital in Alor Setar for post-mortem examinations.
He explained the bodies were moved by truck to a Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency jetty in Bukit Malut, then by police boat to Kuala Perlis, and finally by road to the hospital.
“Without personal documentation, we cannot confirm whether all the deceased were of Rohingya ethnicity,” he said.
To date, sixteen bodies have been recovered while fourteen survivors have been located, with Thai authorities recovering nine bodies in Thailand-Malaysia border waters.
An 18-year-old survivor, identified as Iman Sharif, was rescued today after surviving for four days by drinking river water on the coast of Tanjung Chincin.
The weak teenager was found by the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department team surveying local waters at approximately midday.
Iman recounted his ordeal in Bengali via telephone with an interpreter, stating he was among 290 to 300 undocumented migrants who boarded a vessel from Myanmar.
He said his family in a Bangladesh refugee camp arranged his passage through a syndicate that would be paid only upon his safe arrival in Thailand.
JBPM Zone 4 chief Mohd Zamri Abdul Ghani said his team spotted the teenager while surveying the area.
“We couldn’t bring the boat closer to shore due to the shallow and rocky seabed, so we threw a rope and pulled him in,” Mohd Zamri explained.
In a separate incident, a fisherman from Kampung Sungai Menghulu rescued a woman survivor last Saturday after finding her clinging to a plank near the island. – Bernama
