[ hang nadim ] Two drown, 15 missing after bad weather causes boat tragedy

'Kami ditipu tekong, janji feri tapi hanya bot pancung'

TELUK KEMANG 22 Jun - Ajizah Kasimin, 29, menaruh harapan yang tinggi untuk pulang ke negara asalnya di Indonesia.

Demi memastikan dia dapat melahirkan anak keduanya di negara asal, dia sanggup membayar RM1,000 kepada tekong bot.

Hasrat ibu kepada seorang anak lelaki berusia 10 tahun itu hampir berkecai apabila dia hanya mampu berdoa supaya tidak mati lemas sewaktu kejadian bot karam dekat perairan Port Dickson awal pagi ini.

Ajizah yang sedang mengandung lapan bulan itu sempat berpaut pada tong minyak serta bertahan lebih tiga jam sebelum diselamatkan kapal dagang MV Kota Raya yang kebetulan melalui kawasan perairan berkenaan.

"Saya ditipu tekong bot. Saya membayar RM1,000 untuk pulang ke Indonesia. Saya dijanjikan bot yang lebih sempurna namun bot yang membawa kami adalah bot pancung yang memang tidak selesa," katanya ketika ditemui pemberita di Hospital Port Dickson hari ini.

Ajizah adalah antara lapan penumpang bot karam yang terselamat dalam kejadian kira-kira 12 batu nautika barat Port Dickson pada pukul 3 pagi ini.

Katanya, bot yang dinaikinya berlepas dari Banting, Selangor pada pukul 10.30 malam tadi.

"Ketika itu, laut agak bergelora dan hujan lebat. Semasa di atas bot, saya tidak mengenali mana-mana penumpang lain," ujarnya.

Katanya, dia terpaksa berpaut pada tong minyak sebaik sahaja bot berkenaan mula karam selepas bahagian belakangnya pecah.

Ajizah mengalami kecederaan pada perutnya selepas terkena tumpahan minyak diesel yang panas daripada bot karam itu.

Sementara itu, seorang lagi mangsa yang terselamat dikenali sebagai Iwan, 23, memberitahu, sebelum kejadian dia dalam keadaan gelisah kerana bot terumbang-ambing dengan kuat akibat dipukul ombak besar.

Katanya, semua penumpang dalam bot itu kelihatan cemas apabila dinding bot mula dipukul ombak kuat, malah ada yang memegang beberapa objek untuk mencari perlindungan.

Dia juga telah membayar RM500 kepada tekong bot itu untuk pulang ke negara asalnya untuk menyambut Ramadan berjaya diselamatkan oleh kapal MV Kota Raya dan dibawa ke Hospital Port Dickson.

Dalam pada itu, seorang lagi mangsa, Istiriana Hassan, 31, berkata, dia bekerja di negara ini sejak tujuh tahun lalu dan hendak pulang ke Aceh untuk memperbaharui permit kerjanya.

"Saya telah membayar sejumlah wang kepada tekong. Dia kata kami semua akan naik feri, tapi bila sampai di satu kawasan, apa yang kami nampak ialah sebuah bot pancung.

"Saya tiada pilihan lain selain menaiki bot itu sehinggalah ia karam," katanya yang cedera di badan akibat terkena tumpahan diesel.

Two drown, 15 missing after bad weather causes boat tragedy
By SARBAN SINGH
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

PORT DICKSON: A group of illegal Indonesians who tried to sneak out of the country paid heavily for their folly when two of them drowned and up to 15 others were reported missing more than 24 hours after their fishing boat capsized.

Only eight passengers of the ill-fated vessel, which left Banting, Selangor at about 12.30am yesterday, survived the tragedy which occurred during heavy rain.

It is learnt that all the passengers paid between a few hundred ring-git and RM1,000 for the trip to Dumai.

The incident happened 12 nautical miles from here at 3.30am.

Port Dickson OCPD Supt K. Baljeet Singh said those rescued were aged between 21 and 30, including six men.

“As of 5pm, we recovered two bodies but up to 15 more passengers are still missing,” he told reporters yesterday when met at the Marine Department jetty where the search and rescue operations are based.

He said the body of the first victim, a seven-year-old girl, was found at about 7am while the second body, a man believed to be in his 30s, was fished out by fishermen in Port Dickson waters just before 5pm.

Baljeet said preliminary investigations revealed that rough seas caused the capsize.

“We can’t tell exactly what type of boat it was and why it capsized as we are still talking to the survivors and putting the pieces together,” he said.

Baljeet said a Singapore-registered merchant ship MV Kotaraya, which was on its way from Bangladesh to the island republic rescued seven victims at about 7.30am, while the eighth survivor was found by fishermen three hours later.

The crew of MV Kotaraya also relayed the incident to the Maritime Rescue Co-ordinating Centre in Port Klang. Police and Malaysian Martime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) personnel mounted a search and rescue operation within 30 minutes.

Baljeet said the survivors clung to whatever they could get their hands on.

“They sustained injuries as the sea was choppy,” he said.

Baljeet said the police and MMEA had each dispatched two boats to help out in the operation.

He said 92 personnel from the Fire and Rescue Department, Civil Defence Department and army were assisting in the operation.

The survivors have been sent to the Port Dickson Hospital for treatment and several ambulances have been put on stand-by at the jetty near here.