22 Rescued, Malaysia Searches for Six Others from Boat Sinking

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian authorities expanded the search Monday for six people, including five Chinese tourists, still missing two days after their boat sank off Borneo island. Twenty-two people were rescued, but three Chinese tourists died. Malaysia's Maritime Enforcement Agency said in a statement that the search area has been expanded by about four times to 1,500 square nautical miles of the South China Sea, off Sabah state. It said Brunei has also deployed a plane to search in its waters. Government minister Shahidan Kassim was reported by the national Bernama news agency as saying that the 20 Chinese tourists rescued were weak, shivering and sunburnt but had sustained no serious injuries. The survivors were brought ashore late Sunday and hospitalized. Shahidan said rescuers were running out of time as one of the survivors had told authorities that one of the missing six had died. Officials earlier said the 22 Chinese tourists had huddled together in groups, forming human chains, and were wearing life vests when they were rescued by fishermen after more than 10 hours adrift in the sea. Their catamaran left Sabah's capital, Kota Kinabalu, Saturday morning to Pulau Mengalum, an island 60 kilometers (38 miles) west, and was reported missing about 12 hours later. Twenty-eight of the 31 on board were Chinese, with three crew members.
Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Rescue & Vehicle Extrication News Operations Source Type: news