THREE DEAD, TWO MISSING AFTER BOAT OVERTURNED

MERSING (Malaysia), Dec 27 (Bernama) -- Three people died and two others
were missing after a wooden boat carrying 29 tourists overturned about 300
metres from the Tanjung Leman jetty here Sunday.

Mersing police chief DSP Mohd Nor Rashid said the incident occurred at about
1.30pm when the boat carrying nine local residents, 19 Singaporeans and a
Chinese national was heading to the jetty from a fishing platform in Pulau Sibu.

Mersing is a town in Mersing District in the northeast corner of the state
of Johor, Malaysia.

The dead were identified as Low Li Jun, 33, Chua Lim Khoon, 45, and
Adrian Tan, 67, all from Singapore.

Mohd Nor told reporters that their bodies had been taken to Mersing Hospital
for post-mortem.

He said the two missing were Kian Tek Eng, 44, and Tor Soon Kwee, 41, also
from Singapore.

He said initial investigations indicated that strong waves had hit the boat
causing all the victims to fall into the sea.


The investigations also revealed that the wooden boat, 12 metres long and 10
metres wide, was carrying more than the permitted 12 passengers and no one on
board had a life jacket on, he said.

Mohd Nor said the skipper and the operator of the boat, aged 67 and 58, had
been arrested to assist in investigations.

The Maritime Enforcement Agency, Civil Defence Department, Marine Police
and Armed Forces are helping in the search for the missing two.

-- BERNAMA