KUCHING, Jan 19 — Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Muhammad Sabtu Osman has urged all quarters not to disseminate unverified information, including the names of survivors, and victims who were still missing in yesterday’s longboat capsize at Batang Lassa near Kampung Kut in Daro.

He told them to wait for an official statement from the police before releasing any report on the accident.

He said, as of this morning, three victims were confirmed drowned, eight were still reported missing and 16 others rescued.

“But if there are news reports in the papers today, stating that 17 victims were rescued, that is inaccurate,” he told reporters today, after attending the ‘Police and Community Together Fight Crime’ programme in Medan Niaga Satok here.

On the cause of the accident, he said, it was still too premature to comment although he confirmed there were strong currents and winds at the time of the accident.

Meanwhile, Matu/Daro district police chief DSP Wagner Lisa Libut, when contacted by Bernama, said the name list released by news organisations, as well as in the Internet, including the Facebook social site, was not issued by the police. — Bernama