SIBU: Eleven more survivors were plucked from the Rajang River near Belaga in the interior Sarawak late yesterday to bring the total number of passengers surviving from a capsized express boat there to 192 persons, Belaga OCPD, DSP Bakar Sebau said today.
He said the latest survivors were picked up by a passing barge before being brought over to a temporary relief centre at a longhouse nearby the tragedy scene.
According to him, the actual number of passengers onboard the ill-fated boat could not be determined as of now as no passenger manifest was made available to the police yet.
He said the figure that was available yesterday was based on interviews with the boat operator and survivors.
“As of now, we could not say how many more are still missing eventhough new survivors were found. Unless we have the manifest,” he said when contacted from here.
The ill-fated express boat, named Kawan Mas, was on its way from Bakun in the upper part of Belaga town to Kapit when it was said to have hit a rock and sank near Tanjong Giam Bungan between 8.30am and 9.00 am yesterday.
Meanwhile, Bakar said the search and rescue team had set a 3km radius area around the site where the boat sank for the search operation.
As of noon today, the search operation which involved five divers each from the Fire and Rescue Services Department and the Marine Operation Force had yet to find any body.
Other than the nine policemen from Belaga Police District, the operations also involved their counterparts from Bintulu and Kapit districts.
Bernama
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