MERSING, Aug 14 — The body of a woman believed to be that of a Singaporean kayaker reported missing in Endau waters on Aug 8 was found in Kemaman waters today.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Mersing Zone chief Maritime Commander Haris Fadzillah Abdullah said the fully-clothed body with a life jacket on was found floating at sea about five nautical miles east of Kuala Kemaman by local fishermen at 12.50pm.  

"The body arrived at the Kemaman Zone MMEA at 4.30 pm and was sent to Hospital Kemaman for post-mortem and identification by the family,” he told reporters at the forward base set up at the Penyabong jetty, Endau here today.

Last Thursday, Singaporeans Tan Eng Soon (male), 62, and Puah Geok Tin (female), 57, went missing at about 5.40 pm after they got separated from a group of 13 friends while kayaking between Pulau Sri Buat, Pahang and Pulau Mertang, Mersing.

Haris Fadzillah said the spot where the body was found was about 18 nautical miles from where their kayak was discovered yesterday and 100 nautical miles from where they were last seen in their kayak on Thursday.

He said the next-of-kin at the forward base would be coming to Kemaman to identify the body.

Following the discovery of the body, the sector for search by air assets has been widened to 600 square nautical miles stretching from the waters off Kuantan in Pahang to Kerteh, Terengganu.

"With this development, the search around islands in Endau waters has been temporarily called off because we had covered those areas,” he said. — Bernama