HUTAN MELINTANG, Sept 5 ― Another five bodies of victims of a capsized boat in the waters off Sabak Bernam were found today, bringing the total number of people killed in the tragedy to 29, all believed to be Indonesians.

Hilir Perak police chief ACP Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said the bodies of four men and a girl were found by the search and rescue team between 2pm and 5pm about three to five nautical miles from the incident site and about 15 nautical miles from the shore respectively.

“The location where the body of the girl was found indicates that most of the bodies have been swept away far from each other by the strong currents.

“We are expanding the operation area to 1,000 sq kilometres for sea search while 2,000 square kilometres for air search,” he told reporters at the search and rescue operation centre at Hutan Melintang jetty here.

Elaborating further, Mohd Shuhaily said the bodies of the first and second victims were discovered by Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) ship about 2pm in the area near the estuary of Bernam River.

“A ship belonging to the Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM) found one body and soon after that KD Laksamana Hang Nadim found the two-year-old child,” Mohd Shuhaily said.

He said the fifth body was found by MMEA personnel about 5pm and all bodies arrived at the jetty between 5.05pm and 6.30pm.

The search and rescue operations were stopped at 7pm and will be resumed tomorrow morning.

So far, the bodies of 19 women, a girl and nine men have been recovered, while 20 people, including a woman were rescued after the boat ferrying 70 passengers capsized in Selangor waters on Thursday morning.

The 13-metre long boat overturned while on the way from Kuala Sungai Bernam to Tanjong Balai, Indonesia.

It sank about nine nautical miles southwest of Tanjong Sauh. ― Bernama