STORY TO BE TOLD

Relatives to take care of 10-year-old who lost family in Tatau tragedy

BINTULU: When 10-year-old Des­mond Peter said goodbye to his parents and sister in Tatau on Monday, it turned out to be the last time he saw them alive.

Hours later, an express boat crashed at Sungai Anap, killing his father Peter Julan, 28, mother Beremas Nyuweng, 26, and three-year-old sister Amelia Peter.

“I miss them,” the orphan told The Star yesterday outside the Bintulu Hospital morgue, where he and some relatives waited for his family’s remains.

“I liked my younger sister the most,” he said.

Desmond, whose ambition is to become a police officer, stayed behind as he was attending school at SK Tatau. His parents and sister were returning to their longhouse in Ulu Kakus.

His aunt Sediah Nyuweng, who is their neighbour, said it was still unclear who would care for Desmond.

“We have not figured it out yet. Maybe I will take care of him, although I have many other children” Sediah said.

She described her sister’s young family as a happy one, that understood the importance of education.

Desmond, Sediah added, had taken the news “very well”.

She said the 10-year-old seemed okay so far, and understood the severity of the accident.

“He’s just been a little quiet.”

On what the extended family would do with the RM15,000 insurance payment for each dead victim, Sediah said the money would first go towards the funeral.

“I suppose we’ll put aside most of it for Desmond’s future, for his education. For now, we’ll use some of it to buy some new clothes for him.”

The tragedy also claimed the mother and sister of Jeluwi Ibin, 22, who was warded for high fever at Bintulu Hospital over the weekend when she was informed of the accident.

Her mother Lily Manggie, 38, and sister Lenny Ibin, nine, were returning to Kem Gabung, a logging camp on Sungai Kakus, a tributary of Sungai Anap, where their father works.

Lily’s body was among the first found by rescuers. Lenny’s body was recovered early yesterday morning.

“Why did this happen to my family? All our lives we’ve been using river transportation. Why this time, why us?” Jeluwi, who works in a hotel here, told The Star through tears.

“They were coming down specially to see me. They wanted me to get well soon. I find this so hard to accept.”

Jeluwi last saw her family members at about 10am on Monday.

“My mother’s last words to me were simple. She said, ‘I’m leaving first’,” Jeluwi said.

On whether her family members were aware of safety measures when taking river transport, she replied: “We’ve never used a life jacket in our lives.

“All these years, we never thought we would ever need them. Not just us, it’s normal for everyone I know. We just never knew it could be dangerous.”

Jeluwi is the eldest of three siblings, while Lenny, a student of SK Keseng, was the youngest. The family is from Rh Pandung along Sungai Kakus.

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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.

Not giving up hope: A team from the Fire and Rescue Department along with some volunteers looking for the missing victims around the express boat.

State rep: Most victims were women and children
By YU JI
yuji@thestar.com.my

BINTULU: Most of the victims on the capsized express boat heading to Ulu Kakus are believed to be mothers and their young children.

They were on their way home from Tatau when the tragedy occurred at about 2.30pm on Monday.

Kakus assemblyman John Sikie Tayai believed that many of them were in Tatau for a children’s clinic programme on Sunday.

“I cannot be 100% sure at this moment because information is still hazy – there’s much confusion – but I’ve been told that most of the people on the boat were mothers and their children,” he said over the phone.

“The accident happened just an hour into the journey, which started on Sungai Anap, and the boat was about 30 minutes from entering Sungai Kakus.”

Sikie, who described the incident as “extremely saddening”, said most of the victims were from families who worked at logging camps.

“When I heard about this at 6pm on Monday, I felt so helpless. I was in Kuching and there was not much I could do.”

He said the river was the only viable means of transport for most of his constituents.

“The logging roads are just too muddy and they don’t reach most longhouses.

“Boats are still the mode of transportation,” Sikie said.

Asked how many were onboard the ill-fated express boat, Sikie said: “That’s difficult to answer. I don’t think there was a record. Or if there was one, it might have been washed away by now.”

The township of Tatau is about 50km from Bintulu in the central region.

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Eyewitness: Passengers onboard had no life vests

TATAU: An eyewitness of the express boat disaster here saw passengers climb out of the sinking vessel without any life vests .

Logging camp worker Patrick Eming Ubit, 35, was in his quarters just next to the river when he heard screams from the river.

“I ran to the river bank and saw the express boat partly underwater. There were men, women and children trying to crawl out and some of them were struggling to stay afloat. They had no life vests.

“I shouted to the other workers to help and some of the people on board the barge (which the express boat had crashed into) started throwing lifebuoys to the people in the water. Some of us jumped in and swam towards the people to pull them to shore.

“A baby girl was still alive when we pulled her to the bank, but she stopped breathing after five minutes,’’ Eming said.

He said the middle of the river was very deep and the place where the incident happened was at a sharp bend where the current was strong.

Eming said those who managed to swim ashore were mainly adults, while others were pulled out of the river by camp workers and villagers. There were 17 survivors.

He added this was the worst boat tragedy along the river, a vital route linking the interior with Bintulu.

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