Fourteen people were drowned in the Sg Air Hitam boat tragedy so far, with the latest casualty a man whose body was fished out near the coast of Westport Klang at 6.30pm.
Kuala Langat OCPD Supt Azman Abdul Razak said the SAR team today recover five bodies, while a couple were rescued.
"The victims were found near the coast of Pantai Morib, Pulau Carey and Pantai Sungai Hitam.
"Out of the 14, 11 were male. So far, we have rescued 63 people, including 12 women.
"We believe that there are still 20 victims missing," he said at the Kuala Langat SAR operation centre.
Azman added that the police have yet to pronounce the missing Indonesians dead as there was still a high chance they could be alive.
The SAR effort was a collaboration between the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), Fire and Rescue Department, marine police and Civil Defence Department.
"We have divided the search areas into five zones covering over 25 nautical miles. We may extend the search areas from time to time.
"The search will continue and our core search areas are near the coastal areas," he said.
Azman said no one has come forward to claim the bodies.
He also denied that the capsized boat was carrying smuggled items such as firearms and diesel.
"We have deployed our K-9 unit but so far have yet to find evidence of smuggling. But we know the path is one of the 10 routes frequently used by smugglers and illegal immigrants.”
On Wednesday midnight, a boat carrying 97 Indonesian nationals capsized near Sungai Air Hitam, Kuala Langat.
The boat was believed to be headed to Aceh, Indonesia.
Another boat incident involving 27 Indonesians occured in Sepang earlier today. It was travelling to Tanjung Balai when the incident happened.
Friday 20 June 2014
http://www.malaysiandigest.com/news/505782-14-bodies-recovered-63-rescued-20-still-missing-in-boat-incident.html
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