Langkawi police confirm no new victims found in boat capsize search, with death toll remaining at 28 and SAR operation area narrowed to 33.86 square nautical miles.
LANGKAWI: Police have confirmed no additional bodies or arrests related to the recent boat capsize incident near the Malaysia-Thailand maritime border.
Langkawi police chief ACP Khairul Azhar Nuruddin said the death toll remains at 28 with 14 victims found safe.
Police believe no survivors managed to reach shore following the incident.
“As of yesterday, we have not received any information from the public regarding the discovery of any victims, whether alive or dead,” he told reporters.
“We have also not obtained any reports of illegal immigrants landing at any location within our search sector.”
Khairul Azhar said police monitored nearby islands but found no indication of migrants’ whereabouts.
“We have also not detected the location of other boats reportedly carrying 230 migrants,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency announced the search and rescue operation resumed today at 7.30 am.
The search area has been narrowed to 33.86 square nautical miles for the seventh day of operations.
According to the agency, four assets from MMEA, Marine Police and the Royal Malaysian Navy are involved.
“This is to optimise the use of available resources,” it said in a statement.
Other assets including those from the Fire and Rescue Department and Civil Defence Force remain on standby.
MMEA added that the total search area covered over six previous days amounted to 1,355.13 square nautical miles. – Bernama
Focus Keywords and Tags: Langkawi boat capsize, Malaysia-Thailand maritime border, search and rescue operation, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, boat victims, illegal immigrants, marine police
