TWO FISHERMEN KILLED, FOUR OTHERS MISSING AFTER BOAT HIT BY MERCHANT SHIP

LUMUT (Malaysia), Oct 8 (Bernama) -- Two fishermen were killed, while four
others were still missing when a merchant ship rammed into their boat in waters
off Sabak Bernam, Selangor at 3.30am Thursday.

Sabak Bernam is a district of Selangor, Malaysia. It is situated to the
northwest of Selangor.

Wilayah I Marine Operations Force (MOF) commander, ACP Zainul Abidin Hasan
said 10 other fishermen on the boat were rescued in the mishap which occurred
about 10 nautical miles off Kuala Bagan Nakhoda Omar, Sabak Bernam, Selangor.

Speaking to reporters at the MOF base in Kampung Acheh here, Zainul Abidin
said they were alerted about the incident at 8.30am and launched the search and
rescue operation immediately.

"At 11am, a team of MOF personnel arrived at the location and managed to
rescue 10 of the fishermen, comprising two local men and eight Thai men, who
were clinging to the overturned fishing boat," he said.

He said six others, aged between 25 and 50, including the skipper of the
boat, were reported missing.


One of the missing fishermen was found dead at about noon, not far from the
scene, while the second body was found at 4.30pm.

The bodies were taken to Sabak Bernam Hospital for post mortem.

Zainul Abidin said the search and rescue operation to find four other
missing fishermen was in progress.

He said initial investigation found that the fishermen were sleeping and did
not realise that their boat was hit by the ship.

"We have informed the Marine Department about the incident to enable them to
locate the merchant ship," he said adding that all of the surviving victims were
currently receiving treatment for their injuries at Seri Manjung and Sabak
Bernam Hospitals.

In SABAK BERNAM, one of the survivors in the incident, Tan Sie Tek, 34, said
he and nine other fishermen managed to save themselves by climbing onto the
overturned boat.

"The boat was steered by a Thai. We went out to sea at 1pm Wednesday and in
the boat were 16 people including seven local Chinese fishermen and nine foreign
workers," he recalled.

Tan who was injured on the head, said on their journey back to the Hutan
Melintang jetty after fishing, 15 of them were asleep except the Thai skipper
before the collision happened.

"At about 7am, we were rescued by another fishing boat passing by," he said.

-- BERNAMA