Remains are that of tourist
Published on: Tuesday, February 07, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: By Sherell Ann Jeffrey The body of a woman retrieved from waters some 13 nautical miles northwest off Pulau Mengalum on Saturday has been identified as Jianyi Yang, one of the six who went missing following the Jan. 28 catamaran capsize. Results of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sampling was released on Monday evening with State Police Commissioner Datuk Ramli Din confirming the identity.
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This brings the number of people still missing to five, four of whom are China tourists and the number of those dead to four. Local fishermen came across the body which was caught in their fishing net some 20 nautical miles southwest off Pulau Tiga at about 9.25am on Saturday. The decomposed state made it difficult for family members to confirm the identity prompting the need for DNA sampling.The 38-year-old woman was among 28 China tourists and three crew who left the Tanjung Aru jetty here for Pulau Mengalum about two hours' ride northwest of Kota Kinabalu at about 9am on Jan. 28.
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Their failure to arrive prompted a search and rescue operation with 20 of the passengers and two crew members rescued by fishermen from waters near Labuan on Jan. 29. Three others were found dead.Meanwhile, four of the China tourists who survived the ordeal were discharged from hospital, Monday.
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"Four survivors left for China at 1am this morning and three others will leave on Feb 7 (Tuesday)," said Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1 Director Dr Heric Corray.The four were among 20 China tourists who were admitted to the hospital on Jan. 29 for dehydration, first degree burns through prolonged exposure to the sun or suffered from hypothermia. Eleven boats and vessels, as well as two aircraft were deployed to search 2,000 nautical miles with still no trace of the missing five, four of whom are China tourists, as operations entered its tenth day on Monday.A total of 50 fishermen also took part in the search, covering 400 nautical miles between Pulau Mengalum and Pulau Tiga where the body was retrieved.There was rain and thunderstorm in the morning and evening with wind conditions blowing northwest between 40 and 50 kilometres per hour and waves between 2.5 metre and 3.5 metre high. The on-going search has prompted those from the hospital to offer counselling and health inspections on the 450 personnel who have been taking turns to scour waters in Sabah, Brunei and Miri covering a total of 24,690 nautical miles since day one. Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) officials are still hoping for miracle of finding survivors despite the rough weather. "We will keep searching for them until further orders are given," said Kota Kinabalu Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Chief First Admiral Adam Aziz. They will also obtain the opinion of pathologists on how long a body will continue to drift or stay afloat before being fully submerged. "We can only hope for a miracle, but the chances of finding survivors is very slim," he said, after chairing a meeting held at the Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre here on Monday.The meeting involved those from the police, navy, air force and the National Security Council to discuss on the operations and the next course of action. On Friday, MMEA officials announced the sighting of a white object floating some 17 nautical miles north off Labuan. Efforts are still being done to locate the object at press time. It was reported that the crew who was rescued with the ill-fated catamaran skipper will be one of the key witnesses to the court case involving the boat owner, Leong Vin Jee, 44, who was arrested a day later.The skipper Sharezza Salian, 25, who was brought to court on Saturday pleaded guilty to ferrying an overloaded catamaran and was jailed six months. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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