More Indonesian Victims Found In Malacca Straits Ship Accident
19 October 2018 13:50 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Kuala Lumpur - Search operation for victims of the sunken ship in the Malacca Straits on Friday found nine bodies and one survivor. The total number of victims found dead are 24 people, consisting of 19 women and five men. The number of survivors have reached 20 people, including 19 men and one woman, all of them Indonesian citizens.
Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Herman Prayitno, who has met survivors at the Malaysian Marine Empowerment Agency (APMM) in Klang, stated, ships suspected of transporting the approximately 70 people drowned last Thursday at around 2:20 am.
"The victims left at midnight. Along the way, the ship was hit by wave, but kept on forward until it broke," said Herman, based on the testimonies of victims, he told Tempo on Friday, September 4.
Klang APMM chairman Marine First Admiral Mohd. Aliyas Hamdan said the 12-meter long wooden boat sank off the coast, 30 kilometers from Sabak Bernam, Selangor, Malaysia. The ship was allegedly overloaded.
According to Herman, the survivors find it difficult to contact their families. "Therefore, we appeal for those who feel they had lost their family members to contact the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Especially those that died because the passengers did not know each other," he said.
The survivors are now detained by APMM for not having valid documents. According to Herman, they will be checked for a maximum of 14 days before being handed over to the court. Therefore, the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has prepared lawyers and work so that they can be repatriated without having to undergo the legal process.
News of the accident made a number of Acehnese living in Malaysia uneasy. "There are some people from Aceh had gone there to see whether their relatives are among the victims," said Boyhaqi, an Acehnese who currently resides in Selangor, told Tempo.
Bodies of the victims were taken to the Hospital of the King Consort Bainun in Ipoh. Two bodies have been identified.
According to the Deputy Ambassador of Indonesia in Malaysia Hermono, the Embassy will open a post in Ipoh, where the bodies are kept, to facilitate the families. "As soon as the bodies are identified, we will immediately deport them,” he said.
THE STAR | IMRAN M.A. | NATALIA SANTI
