Roundup: Chinese ambassador urges continued efforts in search for missing persons of sunken boat

Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang on Wednesday urged Malaysian authorities to continue search for the missing persons of the tourist boat which capsized in the waters off the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah on Saturday.

Huang made the remarks after he visited some injured Chinese tourists who had been warded in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital since they were rescued.

Currently they are being treated for dehydration and severe sunburn.

"We will not give up any gleam of hope and will try our best to urge the Malaysian side to continue their search efforts and thoroughly investigate the incident so that tourists' safety in Sabah can be ensured," said Huang.

He also noted that he was promised by Musa Aman, chief minister of Sabah when meeting him earlier that authorities in Sabah will do everything they can to rectify tourism environment and order.

Chinese tourists flooded in Sabah during the Chinese New Year holiday, making local hotels and many tourism services fully booked, which caused some concerns that whether the incident is a reflection of Sabah's capacity to receive some many tourists.

Meanwhile, as the search and rescue operation for the victims enters its sixth day, the possibility of survival for the six missing passengers is wearing thin, said First Admiral Adam Aziz, Kota Kinabalu director of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency at a regular briefing on the same day.

He said the possibility of 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