Regatta tragedy: Bodies of missing 5 found this morning

The bodies of all five individuals reported missing after their regatta boat capsized during a training session in the Sarawak River, near the Royal Bay Commercial Centre on Jalan Buruh Bintawa, were found this morning.

A spokesperson for the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department Operations Centre said the bodies were discovered in stages between 6.16am and 7.09am.

“The remains of all five victims have been found; we are now awaiting confirmation from the police and the Health Ministry,” he said.

“Two victims were located at 6.16am, one at 6.40am, while the Sarawak Coastguard found another victim at 7.07am.

“The last victim was recovered at 7.09am with the assistance of a drone,” he added.

The five victims have been identified as Mohamad Ikhmal Sama’ail, 34; Majurie Maharuf, 32; Mohd Afiq Isyamudin Asaari, 26; Muhammad Khairul Hisyam Kasturi, 23, and Mohamad Khairul Bidin, 26.

Remains identified

Kuching district police chief Mohd Farhan Lee Abdullah confirmed at a press conference following the conclusion of the search-and-rescue (SAR) operation, that all recovered bodies belonged to individuals reported missing in the incident.

He said that the victims were located approximately 2.5km from the scene of the incident, with the identification process completed by the next of kin at the Sarawak General Hospital at 9am today.

“The identification process was carried out by the father of two victims, while the other two were identified by their wives, and one by the victim’s mother.

“With this, the SAR operation officially concluded at 10am,” he said.

He added that the hospital’s Forensic Department would conduct the post-mortem examinations.

Once completed, the remains will be returned to the victims’ families, for burial in their respective villages.

45 hours

He also noted that the bodies were found within a radius of approximately 500 sq m in the Sarawak River barrage area, with one body discovered on the riverbank and the remaining four recovered in the middle of the river.

“From the date and time of the incident, which occurred at 3.47pm on Oct 18, until 6.16am today, it took us 45 hours to locate the first body, and just 50 minutes to recover the fifth,” he stated.

He also expressed gratitude to all NGOs and local residents for their invaluable assistance throughout the SAR mission.

The five victims were participants in the regatta and were reportedly engaged in a training session on Friday when their boat, carrying 16 individuals, overturned around 3.47pm, after being inundated by water from a passing fishing vessel.

Only 11 of the 16 participants, who were employees of the Sarawak Security and Enforcement Unit, managed to escape to safety.

- Bernama

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