Boat capsizes in Sg Kayan: SAR ongoing to locate three missing students - Police

KUCHING: The search and rescue (SAR) operation to locate three students who went missing after a boat they were travelling in capsized in Sungai Kayan, Kampung Selampit, Lundu, approximately 72 kilometres from here, earlier today, is still ongoing, as of 3 this afternoon.

Lundu district police chief DSP Damataries Lautin said that the operation to find the three missing students from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Senibong involves 55 personnel from various agencies, including the Royal Malaysia Police, the Fire and Rescue Department, and the Malaysian Civil Defence Force.

He said at 6.35 am, the police received a report from the Sarawak contingent police headquarters, about a boat carrying residents which had capsized in Sungai Kayan.

“Preliminary investigations reveal that the boat was carrying 19 passengers - 18 students and one adult female passenger - along with a motorcycle,” he said when contacted by Bernama.

He added that the incident occurred when the boat capsized in the middle of the river during high tide. The distance between Kampung Selampit and the jetty on the opposite bank is approximately 80 meters.

Damataries said that the cause of the incident was overloading.

According to preliminary information from the state Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JPBM) Operations Centre (PGO), a boat carrying 20 people, including the skipper, capsized earlier today.

Of the passengers, 14 managed to escape to safety, while another student, who was swept away by strong currents to about one kilometre from the scene, was rescued by villagers.

Both the adult female passenger and the skipper survived, but the three missing students have yet to be located.