A quarry worker, 60, is believed to have drowned after the boat carrying him and six others capsized near Pantai Utara behind the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Penang office at Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah in George Town today.

During the 7pm incident, the boat which was carrying seven people assigned to conduct a survey on the land reclamation project in the area, overturned due to strong waves.

Fire and Rescue Department operation commander, Nazari Mustapha, said that the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) was conducting the search and rescue operations.

He said the department received a distress call from a MACC officer and when the team arrived, they managed to save one Indonesian some 80 metres from the shore.

The remaining five survivors were found by a fisherman some 500m from the shore, believed to be near the location the boat had overturned, he said.

Three out of the seven people, aged between 26 and 60, on board the boat are Malaysians while the rest are Indonesian nationals.

One of the survivors, identified as Hamdan Osman, 35, from Acheh, said he and his colleagues had left Pantai Jerjak for work at about 6pm and the strong waves caused the boat to lose its balance and capsized.

- Bernama