Tatau Express Boat Tragedy - Boat tragedy: Seven more bodies found

Seven more bodies found in river tragedy

BINTULU: Seven more bodies from the Tatau express boat tragedy were recovered yesterday, bringing the total number of dead to 13.

The body of Undah Engkamat, 23, was the last to be pulled out of the Sungai Anap at 8.50am yesterday.

At 5pm, search and rescue efforts were scaled down. At its peak, 74 personnel from various agencies were involved, with the Tatau district police heading the effort.

Yesterday evening, seven police officers were still at the scene of the accident.

About half were conducting surface search, while the rest were manning a temporary desk, coordinating efforts and in case new reports were lodged.

“After we were able to account for all the people on the boat, according to lodged reports, we called off the full effort,” Tatau police chief Deputy Supt Wan Zaizudin Wan Jaafar said.

“The smaller team continues to work through the night.

“If we find nothing and there are no new reports, we’ll stop the search by noon today.”

The express boat had allegedly collided with the tugboat at a bend in the river at about 2.20pm on Mon­day.

There were 17 survivors.

Meanwhile, a Fire and Rescue Department diver from Kuching Awang Effendi said there was zero visibility in the river because of the mud.

“All we could do was touch and feel the river bed.

“The river itself was very deep. At various points, it was as deep as 30 feet,” Awang said.

He also said the river bed contained a lot of timber logs.

“Because the accident occurred at a sharp bend, the water flow at some parts was circular.

“There was a whirlpool effect, which meant there were a lot of sunken logs.”

In the end, all the bodies recovered were ones that had floated to the surface.

At Bintulu Hospital, there were emotional scenes at the morgue — all the bodies were brought there for next of kin to identify.

Meanwhile, Ting Neng Siik, 58, the pilot of the express boat, was placed under remand by the magistrate’s court here for four days to facilitate police investigations.

Ting surrendered to police on Monday night.