Malaysian Maritime says 17 still missing from Tanjung Balau boat incident

KOTA TINGGI, Dec 17 — The joint search-and-rescue (SAR) operation in Tanjung Balau here, now in its third day will continue on for the 17 capsized boat victims still missing.

According to a statement by the Johor Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), the operational sector will be expanded to 214.8 square nautical miles, covering the areas of Tanjung Balau to Tanjung Penawar.

“Three aircraft have been deployed for the air search today, namely MMEA’s AW139 helicopter, the Police Air Unit’s helicopter as well as the Fire and Rescue Department’s Mi-17 helicopter.

“The search at sea will involve several marine assets with MMEA’s ship KM Tegas as the ‘On Scene Coordinator’, a Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) boat and two Marine Police Force sea assets: a ship and a boat.

“The land search on the coast will continue with other agencies comprising of the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM), the Fire and Rescue Department, police and also the Civil Defence Force,” he said in a statement issued by Johor MMEA’s state headquarters here today.

However, the Johor MMEA said there have been no new leads pointing to the remainder of the victims as of 8am today.

“The discovery of eight bodies on the second day yesterday brought the total number of victims found to 19 people, with 14 survivors.

“Today, will see the participation of 128 SAR operation personnel for the land, air and sea efforts,” said the statement.

MMEA is the lead agency for the joint SAR operation in Tanjung Balau here since the boat tragedy struck on Wednesday morning.

Tanjung Balau is located bear the popular Desaru beach resort.

Yesterday, MMEA said eight bodies, comprising six men and two women from the boat tragedy, were recovered along the Tanjung Balau beach area.

On Wednesday, 11 bodies of Indonesian undocumented migrants were found after the boat they were on capsized after being hit by high waves during bad weather early in the morning.

The boat was reportedly carrying 50 undocumented migrants from Batam and Lombok, Indonesia, and was enroute to Malaysia when the tragedy struck.