IPOH, May 17 — The search and rescue (SAR) operation for victims of the boat capsizing incident involving Indonesian migrants in waters off Pulau Pangkor on May 11 was officially called off yesterday after six days.

Perak Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) in a statement today said that the operation ended at 7 pm following no new discoveries in the search area.

To date, a total of 39 victims have been found, involving 23 survivors while another 16 were confirmed dead.

“Initial information obtained on the first day of the operation stated that the total number of victims was 37, however the figure is believed to be inaccurate,” the statement said.

The victims who died comprised nine men and seven women, whose bodies were sent to Taiping and Teluk Intan Hospitals for post-mortem and identification procedures.

Apart from MMEA, the operation also involved cooperation from various security agencies including the Royal Malaysian Navy, the Marine Police Force, as well as fishing communities in the surrounding waters.

The incident occurred on May 11 and involved a boat believed to be carrying Indonesian migrants that capsized about 8.2 nautical miles from Pulau Pangkor while en route to several destinations in Malaysia. — Bernama

IPOH, May 15 — Another body of a victim from a boat carrying Indonesian migrants that capsized off the waters of Pulau Pangkor was found this morning, bringing the number of recovered bodies to 11 so far.

The Perak Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said the body of a male victim was discovered by the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) at 9.27 am, located 5.6 nautical miles from the incident site.

“The body was found by an RMN asset (FCB 1001) and brought to the Kampung Acheh Marine Police Jetty at 10.20 am,” it said in a statement.

Earlier, the search and rescue (SAR) operation, which entered its fifth day, resumed at 7 am today, covering a total search radius of about 215.14 square nautical miles from the incident location.

The SAR operation involved seven assets, namely the Maritime Vessel KM Malawali (MMEA), Benteng 1203 (MMEA), KD Sri Indera Sakti (RMN), FCB 1001 (RMN), FCB 1030, PSC 16 (Marine Police) and PSC 24 (Marine Police), focusing on locating three more missing victims.

In the incident on May 11, a boat believed to be carrying 37 Indonesian migrants capsized about 8.2 nautical miles off Pulau Pangkor while en route to several destinations in Malaysia.

So far, 23 victims have been rescued. — Bernama

IPOH, May 15 — Another body from the boat carrying Indonesian migrants that sank off Pulau Pangkor was recovered last night, bringing the death toll to 10.

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said in a statement that the man’s body was found by fishermen at about 7.40pm yesterday, around 3.6 nautical miles northeast of the location where the boat sank.

“The body was transferred from the local fishing boat that discovered the victim to a Marine Police Force vessel, PSC 16, before being brought to the jetty,” he said, adding that the vessel arrived at the Kampung Acheh jetty at about 9.35pm.

The search and rescue (SAR) operation, now in its fifth day, resumed at 7 am this morning, with efforts focused on locating the four missing victims.

In an incident on May 11, a boat believed to be carrying 37 Indonesian migrants sank about 8.2 nautical miles off Pulau Pangkor while travelling to several destinations in Malaysia.

Twenty-three people have been rescued so far. — Bernama

IPOH, May 15 — Another body of a victim from the boat carrying Indonesian illegal immigrants that sank in the waters off Pulau Pangkor was found this evening, bringing the death toll so far to nine.

The Perak branch of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), in a statement, said the male victim’s body was discovered by Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) asset, KD Sri Indera Sakti.

“The ninth body was found at a position 4.5 nautical miles southwest of Pulau Pangkor at about 5.31pm yesterday.

“The body was later handed over to the Royal Malaysian Navy’s Fast Combat Boat (FCB) 1002 at 6.25 m for further action,” the statement said.

The statement added that the fourth day of the search and rescue (SAR) operation continued with efforts focused on the area where victims’ bodies were found on the second day of the operation.

“The search for victims on the fourth day focused on seven sectors covering 219.01 square nautical miles.

“The operation, which began at 7 am today, involved air and sea assets from the MMEA, RMN and the Marine Police Force (PPM),” it said.

In the incident early last Monday morning, a boat believed to be carrying 37 Indonesian illegal immigrants capsized in the waters off Pulau Pangkor while en route to Malaysia.

So far, 23 victims have been rescued while efforts to locate the remaining five missing victims will continue today. — Bernama

LUMUT, May 13 — On day three of the operation, authorities expanded the search radius to 343 nautical square miles for seven Indonesian undocumented migrants still missing after a boat capsized off Pulau Pangkor. 

State Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) director, Maritime Capt Mohamad Shukri Khotob, said the expanded area focuses on potential zones identified from earlier recoveries.

“Today’s search focuses north of Pulau Pangkor, based on evidence that victims drifted there. As of 2.30pm on day three, no bodies have been found.

But MMEA Perak, the Marine Police Force and Royal Malaysian Navy continue to intensify searches in designated sectors,” he told reporters at the Kampung Acheh Marine Police Jetty today.

Mohamad Shukri said sea currents pose a major challenge, potentially carrying victims far from where the boat capsized, adding that today’s search would continue until 7pm and resume tomorrow.

“Tomorrow’s operation will run from 7am to 7pm with the same assets, though we may expand the search area as needed,” he said.

To date, 30 victims have been located: 23 rescued alive and seven found dead over the three-day operation.

Yesterday, Perak MMEA reported rescuing 23 Indonesian migrants after their boat capsized off Pulau Pangkor near Lumut, on Monday.

The boat is believed to have been carrying 37 undocumented Indonesian migrants and was operated by a Myanmar crew.

It departed Kisaran, Indonesia, on May 9 for Malaysia, believed to be heading to Penang, Terengganu, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama

LUMUT, May 13 — Three more bodies of women, believed to be victims of a boat capsize incident involving undocumented Indonesian migrants off Pulau Pangkor on Monday, have been found.

Marine Police Region One Operations Command officer DSP Mazre Che Mahmod said the three bodies were discovered by Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) vessel KD Sri Indera Sakti about 20 nautical miles from the location of the incident at around 6 pm yesterday.

“Investigations to determine the identities of the three victims are ongoing,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.

Mazre said the latest discovery brought the total number of victims found so far to 30, after 23 of them were rescued on the first day of the search and rescue (SAR) operation on May 11.

“We are still searching for seven more victims. The third day of the SAR operation resumed at 7 am today, involving the Marine Police, RMN and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA),” he said.

Earlier yesterday, four bodies were found in the waters off Pulau Pangkor.

Today’s SAR operation involves two Marine Police boats, three RMN vessels and three MMEA assets — Maritime Vessel (KM) Malawali, BENTENG 1203 and a Bombardier CL415MP aircraft from the Subang Air Station.

Yesterday, MMEA Perak rescued 23 Indonesian migrants after the boat carrying them capsized in the waters off Pulau Pangkor near Lumut on Monday.

The boat was reported to be carrying 37 undocumented migrants from Indonesia, who were believed to have departed from Kisaran, Indonesia, on May 9 for Malaysia, — Bernama