HUTAN MELINTANG: An Indonesian man hung on for dear life for 28 hours in the sea before being finally rescued.
The man had been on board a crammed boat heading for Tanjung Balai in Sumatra, Indonesia, when it capsized on Thursday.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency Klang enforcement chief First Admiral Mohd Aliyas Hamdan said a fishing vessel spotted the man floating at about 12.15pm yesterday about five nautical miles from where the boat capsized.
“We gave him first aid on the fishing vessel before bringing him to the jetty here.
“While we took him to land, the same fishing vessel found another two bodies, both men,” he told reporters at the Hutan Melintang Jetty yesterday.
He said the survivor was in a weak state and was taken to the Teluk Intan Hospital for medical treatment.
He said they had also received reports that seven more bodies had been found and efforts were underway to bring them to land.
“The seven bodies are that of six women and a man.
“This brings the total found now to 44 people of which 24 are dead,” Mohd Aliyas said.
The dead have been brought to the Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainon in Ipoh for post-mortem.
In Klang, the 19 earlier survivors had remand orders issued by the Kuala Selangor magistrate’s court.
They will be under police custody for 14 days pending investigations.
Sources said investigations were also being carried out to determine if the ship’stekong was among the 19.
Mohd Aliyas said that seven vessels, four boats and four aircraft including one from the Air Force were involved in the search and rescue mission.
Other agencies involved in the search and rescue mission include the Marine Police, Fire and Rescue Department, Civil Defence Department and Rela.
