Body of second missing fisherman found in Batu Pahat waters

BATU PAHAT: The body of a second fisherman who went missing after a boat capsized off Tanjung Segenting here has been found.

Batu Pahat maritime zone maritime commander Mohd Haniff Mohd Yunus said the body of Tan Hai Lian, aged 62, was found along Pantai Koris here at around 11.30am on Sunday (June 23), some 12 nautical miles away from where the boat capsized.

“The body has been handed over to the police to be taken to Sultanah Nora Ismail Hospital for further action,” he said in a statement.

Mohd Haniff added the third day of search and rescue operation to locate the missing fishermen started at around 7am with six sea and two air assets mobilised to find the victims.

Mohd Haniff added MMEA, through its Maritime Rescue Sub-Center (MRSC), has set the search sector for the third day to include an area of 129 square nautical miles at sea and a search sector area of 104 square nautical miles by aircraft.

On Friday, five local fishermen aged from 43 to 63 went missing after their boat capsized 6.8 nautical miles (12.6km) south-west of Tanjung Segenting at about 6am when it was hit by strong waves during bad weather.

One fisherman, Tan Siak Bin, 43, was rescued by other fishermen at around 8am Saturday while the body of Chiah Kah Chong, 51, was found at 7pm on the same day.

Two victims are still missing, namely Lee Poh Ling, 68, and Daud Darus Hamid, 53.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident, Mohd Haniff also said that MRSC has channelled information to the Marine Department about a ferry passenger who fell into the sea some 16 nautical miles near Parit Jawa waters in Muar.

“The missing person is Indonesian national Juli Afriko, 30, who fell into the sea from a ferry at around 3pm on Sunday. The ferry was on its way to Bengkalis in Indonesia when the incident happened,” he said.