Non-existent phone link in Ulu Bakun hampers search
MIRI: A frantic search for two missing persons following last Saturday’s boating incident in interior Bakun was still going on late yesterday.
Details of the incident were not forthcoming from official and unofficial sources except that the two men were said to have gone under after the boat they were in capsized in turbulent waters.
By late yesterday, Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department’s only updates were that the incident happened around 3pm on Saturday in Ulu Bakun at a spot called Batu Keling, and that the SAR team came all the way from Bintulu, some eight hours away, that is four hours by road and another four hours by boat.
Calls made to Belaga were passed on to the Belaga Volunteer Fire Brigade, which could only confirm that the two missing persons had travelled in the ill-fated boat with two others and that they were on a fishing trip.
Asked for information on Batu Keling, a member of the brigade said it could be reached under normal boat speed in four hours from Bakun jetty but a 60-horsepower outboard engine could make it in slightly more than half of that time.
He said the biggest drawback is that once a boat enters the territory around Batu Keling, wireless telephone connection is non-existent.
“Because of that, whatever progress the SAR team is making is not known to us here in Belaga.
“Until the SAR team is within range, there’s no telling what is happening at Batu Keling,” he said.
A Bernama report that streamed in well past 10pm last night quoted SAR operation commander Mohamad Meramit as saying the missing duo were Wahab Jambul, 50, and Law Yew Ngee, 43.
According to him, the boat skipper Siring Angah, 60, managed to swim to safety.
He said one of the victims did not know how to swim and had clung to the other, he said.
Mohamad said the search operation was suspended at 5pm as the divers were hindered by limited visibility due to wood debris in the water.
