Two schoolgirls aged
10 and 12, from SK Kampung Baru, Pulau Timbang drowned while two other girls
were injured when the boat they were travelling in capsized yesterday.
The dead were identified as Zulaikah binti Amri, a Year Four
pupil, and Zulaika binti Amri, 12, a Year Six pupil whose body had however yet
to be recovered at press time. The girls were among six persons on board the
boat while on their way home to Kampung Serabut at another part of the island
when the incident happened at about 1.30pm.
According to Marine Operations
Force (MOF) commanding officer ASP Gan Ping Sin, the four who survived were the
boatman in his 30s, who is also Zulaika’s father, and two of his sons and
another daughter aged between one and five.
The boat was leaking and had engine problems before it
capsized,” he added. The enforcement unit here has launched a search and rescue
operation to find the 12-year old girl but it was called off at 6pm due to
darkness and big waves, he said.
Source: TheBorneoPost July 7, 2012 Saturday