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Hope to survive slim for missing passengers from sunken boat: Malaysian official

Xinhua, February 1, 2017 Adjust font size:

As the search and rescue operation for the victims of the sunken boat in waters off the Malaysian state of Sabah enters its sixth day, the possibility of survival for the six missing passengers is wearing thin, said a Malaysian official on Wednesday.

First Admiral Adam Aziz, Kota Kinabalu director of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, said at a regular briefing that their survival are "only miracles" because "life jackets cannot stand up to six days, and they are having dehydration."

But Aziz ruled out having a timetable of ending the operation, saying that "we will do our best and we will continue the search."

He cited the miraculous rescue of a Spanish woman, who survived ten days after a shipwreck in sea. "They continued their search until ten days and found her, so our search is continuing. If they are somewhere, then we still hope we can find them and some of the survivors," he said.

In addition, Aziz said MMEA also informed local shipping associations and up to some 180 fisher trawlers as well as ships plying through to notice any signs of floating persons or bodies.

The search and rescue operation expanded to 3,900 square nautical miles on Wednesday, up from Tuesday's 3,000 square nautical miles, involving 350 personnel and 22 assets from the Malaysian navy, maritime authorities and the police as well neighboring Brunei.

The search area for the first time covered waters off the state of Sarawak.

A body was found in waters near Kota Kinabalu on the day but was later identified as not one of the missing Chinese tourists, said Aziz, adding the ships continued searching in the designated area though the weather turned bad in the afternoon.

The catamaran, carrying over two dozen Chinese tourists and three crew, went down in turbulent waters while en route to the popular island of Mengalum on Saturday. Twenty-two people have been rescued but three Chinese tourists have been confirmed dead. Another five Chinese tourists and a crew member are still missing. Endit