KUCHING: Two search and rescue (SAR) operations in Santubong here and Kuala Serupai, Bintulu to locate two men are still ongoing.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Sarawak director First Admiral (Maritime) Zin Azman Md Yunus said both operations involved various agencies such as the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba), Civil Defence Force, Royal Malaysia Police as well as villagers.
The search for Samsudin Beden in Santubong entered day two today.
The 59-year-old was reported missing on Sunday after he went out to sea to send a boat to Kampung Lundu.
“On the first day of the SAR, the teams managed to find the victim’s boat stranded in a mangrove swamp near Damai Golf Club along with a safety jacket, fish barrel, boat engine and the victim’s personal belongings at 1.20pm.
“The operation involved 80 SAR personnel and the search area covered 167.87 nautical square miles, including land search along the Santubong riverbank towards Pantai Damai as well as search by air using a Cessna Caravan aircraft,” Zin Azman said.
Meanwhile, the SAR in Kuala Serupai for Mohd Ainul Hadian entered day five.
The 23-year-old victim was reported missing on Dec 31 after he went fishing with his friends using separate boats.
His friends managed to return home.
A search was carried out and the victim’s boat was found stranded on shore while the victim is feared drowned after being hit by strong waves.
Zin Azman noted that the SAR personnel had yet to find any new clues and would continue searching an area of 95.7 nautical square miles at sea, including continuing the search along coastal areas between Kuala Sungai Serupai, Sungai Buluh, Setuan Kecil, Sungai Kemena and Kuala Tatau.
“We hope that we are able to find new clues to make it easier for us to track the location of the two victims.
“We urged the maritime community to cancel their intentions to go out to sea if the weather is bad but if they really need to do so, prioritise safety by always wearing a safety jacket, given the bad weather condition at this time,” he said.
